Solempnen

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To mark an occasion or event with formal ceremony, rites, or proper observance, as was done in older English
2. Celebrating a feast, rite, or important occasion in a formal and dignified manner according to custom
3. To perform a ceremonial observance or make something sacred and formal through set rituals and due solemnity

Etymology: "Solempnen" is a Middle English verb meaning to celebrate with formal ceremony, to observe a feast or rite with due solemnity. It is a borrowing from Old French "solempniser" (modern "solenniser"), which in turn came from Latin "sollemnis", meaning annual, customary, or religious, from "sollus" (whole, entire) and "annus" (year). The original sense was thus a rite that recurred every year, and the notion of solemnity grew from that repetition of sacred observance. The verb's spelling shows its Middle English form. Scribes wrote it with a "p" and a final "-en" in the infinitive, a pattern typical of verbs borrowed in the later medieval period. Its close relative, the adjective "solemn", came into English with the same Latin root, and the two words were used side by side for centuries, with the verb usually applied to the performance of religious feasts and public rites.

Synonyms: celebrate, solemnize, observe