Definitions

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

  • noun A person who participates in a religious ceremony or rite.
  • noun A person who officiates at a religious or civil ceremony or rite, especially a wedding.
  • noun In some Christian churches, the cleric officiating at the celebration of the Eucharist.
  • noun A participant in a celebration.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun One who celebrates; specifically, in the Roman and Anglican churches, the chief officiating priest in offering mass or celebrating the eucharist, as distinguished from his assistants.

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

  • noun One who performs a public religious rite; -- applied particularly to an officiating priest in the Roman Catholic Church, as distinguished from his assistants.

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

  • noun A person who officiates at a religious ceremony, especially a marriage or the Eucharist.
  • noun Australia, New Zealand A person who conducts formal ceremonies in the community, particularly weddings, baby namings, renewals of wedding vows and funerals.
  • noun A person who is celebrating something.

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

  • noun a person who is celebrating
  • noun an officiating priest celebrating the Eucharist

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

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Examples

  • The main celebrant was the new Apostolic Nuncio to Austria, who was assisted by Cardinal von Schönborn of Vienna and Bishop Kapellari of Graz.

    Te Deum in Vienna 2009

  • A: The principal celebrant is Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, dean of the College of Cardinals, who will deliver the homily.

    USATODAY.com - A guide to the pope's funeral 2005

  • Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger of Germany, dean of the College of Cardinals and close confidant to the pope, was the main celebrant and delivered the homily in praise of John Paul.

    USATODAY.com - Millions of mourners bid farewell to Pope John Paul II 2005

  • In Lambaneish the word for whore was the same as the word for celebrant, meaning one who attends a festival or maybe presides over it.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • In Lambaneish the word for whore was the same as the word for celebrant, meaning one who attends a festival or maybe presides over it.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • In Lambaneish the word for whore was the same as the word for celebrant, meaning one who attends a festival or maybe presides over it.

    Wildfire Sarah Micklem 2009

  • But that distracts attention away to some little extent from the main celebrant.

    Cardinal Pell Speaks on the Liturgy and the Lifting of the Excommunications 2009

  • We designed the ceremony, and the celebrant was the legal figure as we stood up before God, family and friends: Protestant ceremony structure, all readings from the Hebrew Bible, vows tweaked for equality.

    Philocrites: From the Suggestion Box: Interfaith marriages. 2003

  • The priest standing on the platform of the altar and celebrating Mass is called the celebrant; the one who stands just behind him, generally one step lower, is called the deacon, and the one who stands behind the deacon and on the lower step is called the subdeacon.

    Baltimore Catechism No. 4 (of 4) An Explanation of the Baltimore Catechism of Christian Doctrine Thomas L. Kinkead

  • The persons who take part in a Solemn Mass or Vespers are named as follows: The priest who says or celebrates the Mass is called the celebrant; those who assist him as deacon and sub-deacon are called the ministers; those who serve are called acolytes, and the one who directs the ceremonies is called the master of ceremonies.

    Baltimore Catechism No. 3 (of 4) Anonymous

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