Commemoration

/kəˌmɛməˈreɪʃən/

nounIntermediateCommonGeneral

Definitions

1

The act of remembering or marking a significant past event, typically with ceremony or a symbolic act.

/kəˌmɛməˈreɪʃən/

nounneutralIntermediate
General

The act of remembering and honoring someone or something.

A grand commemoration was held to mark the 100th anniversary of the war's end.

💡 Simply: It's like a party to remember something important, like a birthday or a big historical event. We might have speeches, a parade, or maybe just a quiet moment of reflection.

👶 For kids: A special way to remember something really cool or important.

More Examples

2

The museum hosted a moving commemoration of the victims of the tragedy.

How It's Used

Historical Events

"The city held a commemoration ceremony for the anniversary of the battle."

Anniversaries

"The commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the moon landing drew a large crowd."

From Latin *commemoratio*, from *commemorārī* "to keep in memory", from *com-* "together" + *memorārī* "to remember".

The word has been used in a similar sense since the 16th century, often associated with religious or national events.

Memory tip

Think 'come-memorate' – coming together to remember.

Base: commemorate
commemoraioncommemerationcommemorattion

Usage

10%Spoken
90%Written