pageant
/ˈpæd͡ʒənt/ noun, verb
Forms pageants pageanting pageanted pageaunt
- noun An elaborate public display, especially a parade in historical or traditional costume.
- noun A spectacular ceremony.
- noun (obsolete) A wheeled platform for the exhibition of plays, etc.
- verb To exhibit in show; to represent; to mimic.
Synonyms
Etymology
Late 14th c. as Middle English pagent, from Medieval Latin pagina (“play in a cycle of mystery plays”), perhaps from Latin pāgina (“page of a book”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A theatrical exhibition; a spectacle. "A pageant truly played." Shak.
- noun An elaborate exhibition devised for the entertainmeut of a distinguished personage, or of the public; a show, spectacle, or display.
- adjective Of the nature of a pageant; spectacular. "Pageant pomp." Dryden.
- verb To exhibit in show; to represent; to mimic. [R.] "He pageants us." Shak.
Etymology [OE. pagent, pagen, originally, a movable scaffold or stage, hence, what was exhibited on it, fr. LL. pagina, akin to pangere to fasten; cf. L. pagina page, leaf, slab, compaginare to join together, compages a joining together, structure. See Pact, Page of a book.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pageant”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details