Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To honor the memory of (a person or event, for example), especially with a ceremony. synonym: observe.
  • transitive verb To serve as a memorial to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To preserve the memory of by a solemn act; celebrate with honor and solemnity; honor, as a person or an event, by some act of respect or affection, intended to keep him or it in memory.
  • To serve as a memento or remembrancer of; perpetuate or celebrate the memory of: as, a monument commemorating a great battle; a book commemorating the services of a philanthropist.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To call to remembrance by a special act or observance; to celebrate with honor and solemnity; to honor, as a person or event, by some act of respect or affection, intended to preserve the remembrance of the person or event.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb transitive To honour the memory of someone or something with a ceremony.
  • verb transitive To serve as a memorial to someone or something.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb be or provide a memorial to a person or an event
  • verb call to remembrance; keep alive the memory of someone or something, as in a ceremony
  • verb mark by some ceremony or observation

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin commemorāre, commemorāt-, to remind : com-, intensive pref.; see com– + memorāre, to remind (from memor, mindful; see (s)mer- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin commemorare, from com- + memorare to remind of (see memory).

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Examples

  • Columbus, and that his descendant the Duke of Veragua should in his title commemorate one of the most unfortunate of the Admiral's adventures.

    Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery — Volume 7 Filson Young 1907

  • Columbus, and that his descendant the Duke of Veragua should in his title commemorate one of the most unfortunate of the Admiral's adventures.

    Christopher Columbus and the New World of His Discovery — Complete Filson Young 1907

  • Pictures, videos, and joyful phone calls commemorate every milestone: first tooth, mastering a two-wheeler, driver's license, graduation, job, marriage, and children of their own.

    The Nitty Gritty of Caring for Aging Parents 2009

  • It is strange, as Winsor points out, that in the name of this coast should be preserved the only territorial remembrance of Columbus, and that his descendant the Duke of Veragua should in his title commemorate one of the most unfortunate of the Admiral's adventures.

    Christopher Columbus Young, Filson 1906

  • Prospector George Tannihill christened it in 1866 as a mining district, saying he chose the name to commemorate the fierce battle he and twenty-three settlers led by a Captain Pierson had heroically won against marauding Indians there in 1857.

    The Fiddler in the Subway Gene Weingarten 2010

  • Prospector George Tannihill christened it in 1866 as a mining district, saying he chose the name to commemorate the fierce battle he and twenty-three settlers led by a Captain Pierson had heroically won against marauding Indians there in 1857.

    The Fiddler in the Subway Gene Weingarten 2010

  • Prospector George Tannihill christened it in 1866 as a mining district, saying he chose the name to commemorate the fierce battle he and twenty-three settlers led by a Captain Pierson had heroically won against marauding Indians there in 1857.

    The Fiddler in the Subway Gene Weingarten 2010

  • Prospector George Tannihill christened it in 1866 as a mining district, saying he chose the name to commemorate the fierce battle he and twenty-three settlers led by a Captain Pierson had heroically won against marauding Indians there in 1857.

    The Fiddler in the Subway Gene Weingarten 2010

  • Mr. Shaw's tale follows a disintegrating family that gathers at a beach house to "commemorate" the parents 'separation.

    A 'Closer' Opens Up 2008

  • They were not intended to "commemorate" the dead, as our dead are commemorated in modern churches and cemeteries.

    Pharaohs, Fellahs and Explorers 1891

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