solemnity
/səˈlɛmnɪti/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.54 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
4
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An instance or example of solemn behavior; a rite or ceremony performed with reverence.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A feast day of the highest rank celebrating a mystery of faith such as the Trinity, an event in the life of Jesus, the Virgin Mary, or another important saint.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
A solemn or formal observance; proceeding according to due form; the formality which is necessary to render a thing done valid.
Countable; Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "the solemnity of a funeral"
- "The stateliness and gravity of the Spaniards shows itself in the solemnity of their language."
- "These promises were often made with great solemnity and confirmed with an oath."
- "There has been nothing in archæology that has made such a vivid impression on the popular imagination as Mr. Arthur Evans's excavations at Knossos. The Minotaur! the Labyrinth—such words do not suggest the solemnities of antiquarian research."
- "Great was the cauſe; our old ſolemnities / From no blind zeal or fond tradition riſe, / But ſav'd from death, our Argives yearly pay / Theſe grateful honours to the God of Day."
- "This is the Man after God's Heart, […] by endeavouring, when he aſſiſted at thoſe Solemnities, to perform them with the utmoſt Attention, Alacrity, and holy Warmth of Mind, of which he was capable."
Etymology
From solemn + -ity, from Middle English solemnity (“observance of formality and ceremony”), frequently in the phrases in solemnity, with solemnity, which from Old French solemnite, from Latin sollemnitās, from sollemnis. (Compare solemn.)