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player; hence, one who fought with weapons in public, either on the occasion of a funeral ceremony, or in the arena, for public amusement.

Persons in the early church who had received baptism; in which ceremony a lighted taper was given them, as a symbol of the spiritual illumination they has received by that sacrament.

To cause to begin, esp. with formality or solemn ceremony; hence, to set in motion, action, or progress; to initiate; -- used especially of something of dignity or worth or public concern; as, to inaugurate a new era of things, new methods, etc. As if kings did closes remarkable days to inaugurate their favors. Sir H.…

rits, producing enchantment, or affecting other magical results; enchantment. "Mysterious ceremony and incantation." Burke.

g in; to introduce; to usher in. The independent orator inducting himself without further ceremony into the pulpit. Sir W. Scott.

fficial, conventional, prescribed, or customary forms or rules; irregular; hence, without ceremony; as, an informal writting, proceeding, or visit.

The form or ceremony by which a person is introduced into any society; mode of entrance into an organized body; especially, the rite of admission into a secret society or order. Silence is the first thing that is taught us at our initiation into sacred mysteries. Broome.

Not official; not having official sanction or authoriy; not according to the forms or ceremony of official business; as, inofficial intelligence. Pinckney and Marshall would not make inofficial visits to discuss official business. Pickering.

The act or ceremony of depositing a dead body in the earth; burial; sepulture; inhumation. T. Warton.

The act or ceremony of investing, or the of being invested, as with an office; a giving possession; also, the right of so investing. He had refused to yield up to the pope the investiture of bishops. Sir W. Raleigh.

h Jefferson aimed at in his administration as President (1801-1809), eschewing display or ceremony tending to distinguish the President from the people, as in going to the capital on horseback and with no escort, the abolition of court etiquette and the weekly levee, refusal to recognize titles of honor, etc.…

pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Matt. v. 18. Neither will they bate One jot of ceremony. Shak.

A church solemnity or ceremony celebrated at Rome, at stated intervals, originally of one hundred years, but latterly of twenty- five; a plenary and extraordinary indulgence grated by the sovereign pontiff to the universal church. One invariable condition of granting this indulgence is the confession of sins and receiv…

ing locutions." G. Eliot. I hate these figures in locution, These about phrases forced by ceremony. Marston.

A sacrifice, or ceremony, by which cities, fields, armies, or people, defiled by crimes, pestilence, or other cause of uncleanness, were purified.

To unite in wedlock or matrimony; to perform the ceremony of joining, as a man and a woman, for life; to constitute (a man and a woman) husband and wife according to the laws or customs of the place. Tell him that he shall marry the couple himself. Gay.

hool or college. (g) A male teacher. (h) The director of a number of persons performing a ceremony or sharing a feast. (i) The owner of a docile brute, -- especially a dog or horse. (j) The controller of a familiar spirit or other supernatural being.

Marriage; wedding; nuptial ceremony; -- now only in the plural. Celebration of that nuptial, which We two have sworn shall come. Shak. Preparations . . . for the approaching nuptials. Prescott.

The last duty or service to a person, rendered after his death; hence, a rite or ceremony pertaining to burial; -- now used only in the plural. Spencer. I will...fetch him hence, and solemnly attend, With silent obsequy and funeral train. Milton I will myself Be the chief mourner at his obsequies. Dryden. The funeral o…

An act, ceremony, or rite, as of worship or respect; especially, a customary act or service of attention; a form; a practice; a rite; a custom. At dances These young folk kept their observances. Chaucer. Use all the observance of civility. Shak. Some represent to themselves the whole of religion as consisting in a few…