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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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
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Deller’s giant billboards commemorate Beatles manager Epstein, who died three months after the album was released.
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In this Aug. 28, 2013 file photo, NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Jealous speaks at the Let Freedom Ring ceremony at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
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Macron met Putin amid the gold and marble of Versailles and showed him around an exhibition commemorating Russian czar Peter the Great, who visited France in 1717.
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Memorial Day became a national holiday after World War I and is now commemorated throughout the country with ceremonies honoring those who died while serving their country.
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On June 23, 2015, six days into Ramadan, then-ISIS spokesman Abu Muhammad al-Adnani called for attacks to commemorate the holy month.
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Brimming with history, the park commemorates the early days of San Diego and includes many historic buildings such as a schoolhouse, blacksmith shop, San Diego’s first newspaper office and a stable with a carriage collection.
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Keeping on the brighter side of the celebration, several restaurants and bars around Chicago will host food and drink deals throughout the weekend to commemorate the occasion.
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To commemorate the milestone, historic Wright sites, museums and hotels are celebrating with special events, new exhibitions and anniversary packages.
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
Synonym Discussion of commemorate
COMMEMORATE Defined for English Language Learners
commemorate
playDefinition of commemorate for English Language Learners
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: to exist or be done in order to remind people of (an important event or person from the past)
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: to do something special in order to remember and honor (an important event or person from the past)
COMMEMORATE Defined for Kids
commemorate
playDefinition of commemorate for Students
commemorated
;commemorating
1 : to observe with a ceremony commemorate an anniversary
2 : to serve as a memorial of The statue commemorates the battle.
Learn More about commemorate
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See words that rhyme with commemorate Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for commemorate Spanish Central: Translation of commemorate Nglish: Translation of commemorate for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of commemorate for Arabic speakers
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