Solemnized

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To carry out an official event or ritual, especially a marriage or similarly significant occasion
2. To conduct a formal observance or ceremonial act with seriousness and dignity
3. To officiate or preside over an important ritual marking a special or legal event

Etymology: "Solemnized" is the past form of "solemnize," so it traces back to the Latin adjective "solemnis," which meant "annual" or "customary" before it came to mean "formal" or "ceremonial." Those early sacred and festive senses explain why a wedding or a religious rite is the natural thing to solemnize. The verb passed from Latin to Medieval Latin as "solemnizare," then into Old French as "solemnisier," and reached Middle English as "solempnisen." The spelling in English has shifted over time, with the "p" in the older forms eventually dropping out and the modern spelling settling into place. Along the way the word kept its core sense: to perform a formal act that gives an event its proper weight, whether that is a marriage, an oath, or a legal transaction.

Synonyms: celebrated, formalized, sanctified, blessed, performed

Antonyms: invalidated, nullified, disregarded, neglected, ignored