celebrate

English Online Dictionary. What means celebrate‎? What does celebrate mean?

English

Etymology

From Middle English celebraten, from celebrat(e) (“celebrated”, also used as the past participle of celebraten) +‎ -en, borrowed from Latin celebrātus, perfect passive participle of celebrō (“frequent, go to in great numbers, celebrate, honor, praise”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from celeber (“frequented, populous”). Displaced native Old English fæġnian.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/, /ˈsɛl.ə.bɹeɪt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈsɛl.ə.bɹeɪt/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /ˈsel.ə.bɹæɪt/

Verb

celebrate (third-person singular simple present celebrates, present participle celebrating, simple past and past participle celebrated)

1. (transitive) To extol or honour in a solemn manner.

   Synonym: fete
2. (transitive) To honour by rites, by ceremonies of joy and respect, or by refraining from ordinary business; to observe duly.

   Synonyms: observe, keep
3. (transitive or intransitive) To engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event.
4. (transitive) To perform or participate in, as a sacrament or solemn rite; to perform with appropriate rites.

   Synonym: solemnize

Usage notes

In sense “to conduct ceremonies, to follow a custom”, generally used of festive occasions, such as Christmas and birthdays. For more solemn occasions, particularly certain religious holidays (“holy days”) and commemorations, the term observe is used instead, as in “This office will be closed in observance of Veterans Day.”

Derived terms

Related terms

• celebrant
• celebrated
• celebration
• celebrative
• celebrator
• celebratory
• celebrity

Translations

Further reading

• “celebrate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “celebrate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “celebrate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• erectable

Esperanto

Adverb

celebrate

1. present adverbial passive participle of celebri

Italian

Verb

celebrate

1. inflection of celebrare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Anagrams

• cablerete

Latin

Verb

celebrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of celebrō

Spanish

Verb

celebrate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of celebrar combined with te