commemorate

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verb com·mem·o·rate \kə-ˈme-mə-ˌrāt\

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

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

CELChe will stage a concert to commemorate the 50th anniversary of his death on October 9th.

— The Economist, "Challenging the cult of Che Guevara," 20 July 2017
Want to commemorate a special anniversary, memorialize a family member or honor someone — including yourself — for being a vital member of the community?

— elizabeth marie himchak, Rancho Bernardo, "Honor someone with a Pathway of Pride plaque," 19 July 2017
Liu’s supporters have sought to commemorate him by visiting beaches, to the dismay of authorities.

— Washington Post, "Liu Xiaobo supporters mark his death amid concerns for widow," 19 July 2017
This exhibition was presented to the government of Japan on Aug. 6, 1985, to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and was held at the Hiroshima Museum of Art.

— sheldon s. shafer, The Courier-Journal, "Influential Louisville artist Julius Friedman dies at 74," 16 July 2017
Willy Lam, an adjunct political professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said the port call was designed to support the theme of President Xi Jinping’s visit last week to commemorate the handover.

— ting shi, Bloomberg.com, "China's Soft Power Has Hard Edge as Warship Visits Hong Kong," 7 July 2017
Many celebrities commemorate July Fourth by wearing skimpy, patriotic bikinis, but none of them compare to Christina Aguilera, who served up MAJOR stars and stripes on Independence Day.

— rachel torgerson, Cosmopolitan, "Christina Aguilera Had a Sexier July Fourth Than You," 5 July 2017
To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Soviet experiment, the New York Times op-ed page has been publishing a regular series on communism.

— jonathan chait, Daily Intelligencer, "100 Years After the Bolshevik Revolution, Communism Hasn’t Changed," 28 June 2017
President Trump broke with a recent White House tradition and neglected to host an iftar dinner to commemorate the holy month of fasting.

— rebecca dolan, Esquire, "Trump Broke a Two-Decade Presidential Tradition by Not Hosting a Ramadan Dinner," 26 June 2017

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

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

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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)