Solemnity
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( n.) A rite or ceremony performed with religious reverence; religious or ritual ceremony; as, the solemnity of a funeral, a sacrament.
(2): ( n.) ceremony adapted to impress with awe.
(3): ( n.) Ceremoniousness; impressiveness; seriousness; grave earnestness; formal dignity; gravity.
(4): ( n.) Hence, affected gravity or seriousness.
(5): ( n.) Solemn state or feeling; awe or reverence; also, that which produces such a feeling; as, the solemnity of an audience; the solemnity of Westminster Abbey.
(6): ( n.) A solemn or formal observance; proceeding according to due form; the formality which is necessary to render a thing done valid.
King James Dictionary [2]
Solem'Nity, n.
1. A rite or ceremony annualy performed with religious reverence. Great was the cause our old solemnities from no blind zeal or fond tradition rise, but sav'd from death, our Arguves yearly pay these grateful honors to the god of day.
Solemnities seems here to include the sense of anniversary. See the fourth line. But in modern usage, that sense is rarely or never attached to the word.
2. A religious ceremony a ritual performance attended with religious reverence as the solemnity of a funral or of a sacrament. 3. A ceremony adapted to impress awe as the solemnities of the last day. 4. Manner of acting awfully serious. With horrible solemnity he caused every thing to be prepared for his triumph of victory. 5. Gravity steady seriouness as the solemnity of the Spanish language. 6. Affected gravity. Solemnity's a cover for a sot.
