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A solemn festival of the Jews; -- so called because celebrated on the fiftieth day (seven weeks) after the second day of the Passover (which fell on the sixteenth of the Jewish month Nisan); -- hence called, also, the Feast of Weeks. At this festival an offering of the first fruits of the harvest was made. By the Jews…

A prayer; a supplication; an imploration; an entreaty; especially, a request of a solemn or formal kind; a prayer to the Supreme Being, or to a person of superior power, rank, or authority; also, a single clause in such a prayer. A house of prayer and petition for thy people. 1 Macc. vii. 37. This last petition heard o…

t by which one binds one's self to do, or to refrain from doing, something; especially, a solemn promise in writing to refrain from using intoxicating liquors or the like; as, to sign the pledge; the mayor had made no pledges.

A solemn public ordinance or decree. A royal pragmatic was accordingly passed. Prescott.

Pragmatic history." Sir W. Hamilton. "Pragmatic poetry." M. Arnold. Pragmatic sanction, a solemn ordinance or decree issued by the head or legislature of a state upon weighty matters; -- a term derived from the Byzantine empire. In European history, two decrees under this name are particularly celebrated. One of these,…

ract of marriage which, according to the ancient law, rendered void a subsequent marriage solemnized in violation of it. Abbott.

That which is moving onward in an orderly, stately, or solemn manner; a train of persons advancing in order; a ceremonious train; a retinue; as, a procession of mourners; the Lord Mayor's procession. Here comes the townsmen on procession. Shak.

Isa. lxi. 1. For the apparel oft proclaims the man. Shak. Throughout the host proclaim A solemn council forthwith to be held. Milton.

public avowal or acknowledgment; as, professions of friendship; a profession of faith. A solemn vow, promise, and profession. Bk. of Com. Prayer.

To utter officially or solemnly; to deliver, as a decree or sentence; as, to pronounce sentence of death. Sternly he pronounced The rigid interdiction. Milton.

To affirm in a public or formal manner; to bear witness; to declare solemnly; to avow. He protest that his measures are pacific. Landor. The lady doth protest too much, methinks. Shak.

s; -- originally applied to those who adhered to Luther, and protested against, or made a solemn declaration of dissent from, a decree of the Emperor Charles V. and the Diet of Spires, in 1529, against the Reformers, and appealed to a general council; -- now used in a popular sense to designate any Christian who does n…

The act of making a protest; a public avowal; a solemn declaration, especially of dissent. " The protestation of our faith." Latimer.

One who protests; one who utters a solemn declaration. Shak.

signify; to import; - - often with an object clause or infinitive. They in most grave and solemn wise unfolded Matter which little purported. Rowe.

To drink largely or luxuriously. Twelve days the gods their solemn revels keep, And quaff with blameless Ethiops in the deep. Dryden.

d or avowed; notice. The lives of such saints had, at the time of their yearly memorials, solemn recognition in the church of God. Hooker.

to be driven or forced backward; to return. Evil on itself shall back recoil. Milton. The solemnity of her demeanor made it impossible . . . that we should recoil into our ordinary spirits. De Quincey.

or community who has taken the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and who has been solemnly recognized by the church. Bp. Fitzpatrick.

The act of performing divine or solemn service, as established by law, precept, or custom; a formal act of religion or other solemn duty; a solemn observance; a ceremony; as, the rites of freemasonry. He looked with indifference on rites, names, and forms of ecclesiastical polity. Macaulay.