commemorate

verb com·mem·o·rate \ kə-ˈme-mə-ˌrāt \

Updated on: 12 Apr 2018

Definition of commemorate

commemorated; commemorating

transitive verb

1 : to call to remembrance

St. Andrew is commemorated on November 30.

2 : to mark by some ceremony or observation : observe

commemorate an anniversary

3 : to serve as a memorial of

a plaque that commemorates the battle

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commemorator

play \kə-ˈme-mə-ˌrā-tər\ noun

See commemorate defined for English-language learners

See commemorate defined for kids

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Examples of commemorate in a Sentence

The festival commemorates the town's founding.
The plaque commemorates the battle that took place here 200 years ago.
Each year on this date we commemorate our ancestors with a special ceremony.

Recent Examples of commemorate from the Web

The memorial was dedicated in 2001 to commemorate those buried there from the 1850s to the 1920s.

— nereida moreno, chicagotribune.com, "As workers dig at new CPS school site, they try to avoid Dunning’s unmarked graves," 5 Apr. 2018
In Exodus 12, God commands the Israelites to commemorate this with a festival.

— greg garrison, AL.com, "What is Passover? Here are some facts about the biblical holiday," 30 Mar. 2018
Florida State plans to commemorate the careers of two Seminoles football legends, the school announced Friday.

— safid deen, OrlandoSentinel.com, "FSU will retire Peter Warrick's No. 9 jersey, name Odell Haggins to Hall of Fame," 30 Mar. 2018
To help commemorate, Dubois Records digitally released an original soundtrack album on Monday, which features the original score from Maurizio Malagnini, who has composed music for the series since the fourth season.

— melinda newman, Billboard, "'Call the Midwife' Composer Maurizio Malagnini Takes Us Inside the Making of Series Soundtrack," 29 Mar. 2018
Understandably, American Jews felt compelled to commemorate the unprecedented brutality of the Holocaust and its victims.

— ruth r. wisse, WSJ, "To Appreciate Freedom, Remember Slavery," 29 Mar. 2018
Yuri’s Night Houston 10K, 5K and Kids 1K Fun Run on Saturday at Howard L. Ward Park in Nassau Bay is part of an annual worldwide celebration to commemorate the first human in space, as well as the first orbital flight of the US Space Shuttle.

— terry st. john, Houston Chronicle, "Greater Houston athletic activities listings: March 28," 28 Mar. 2018
The occasion was one of the most rousing ceremonial parade moments of all-time, and now a new bobblehead is up for sale to commemorate it.

— grace dickinson, Philly.com, "Now you can buy a Jason #$@%*! Kelce Super Bowl parade bobblehead," 27 Mar. 2018
The Sunday action was to commemorate the founding of Belarus' 1918 proclamation of independence from Russia.

— Fox News, "Scores arrested in Belarus opposition protest in Minsk," 25 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'commemorate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

When you remember something, you are mindful of it. It's appropriate, therefore, that "commemorate" and other related memory-associated words (including "memorable," "memorial," "remember," and "memory" itself) come from the Latin root memor, meaning "mindful." Some distant older relatives are Old English "gemimor" ("well-known"), Greek mermēra ("care"), and Sanskrit "smarati" ("he remembers"). English speakers have been marking the memory of important events with "commemorate" since the late 16th century.

Origin and Etymology of commemorate

Latin commemoratus, past participle of commemorare, from com- + memorare to remind of, from memor mindful — more at memory

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1599

See Words from the same year

commemorate Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of commemorate

keep, observe, celebrate, commemorate mean to notice or honor a day, occasion, or deed. keep stresses the idea of not neglecting or violating.

- kept the Sabbath by refraining from work

observe suggests marking the occasion by ceremonious performance.

- not all holidays are observed nationally

celebrate suggests acknowledging an occasion by festivity.

- traditionally celebrates Thanksgiving with a huge dinner

commemorate suggests that an occasion is marked by observances that remind one of the origin and significance of the event.

- commemorate Memorial Day with the laying of wreaths

COMMEMORATE Defined for English Language Learners

commemorate

verb

Definition of commemorate for English Language Learners

: to exist or be done in order to remind people of (an important event or person from the past)
: to do something special in order to remember and honor (an important event or person from the past)