ceremony

n.

1. A public event

   function, commemoration, services; see celebration 1, 2.

2. A formal act

   ritual, rite, observance, service, solemnity, formality, ceremonial, custom, tradition, liturgy, ordinance, sacrament, liturgical practice, protocol, etiquette, politeness, decorum, propriety, preciseness, strictness, nicety, formalism, ceremoniousness, convention, conventionality, usage, prescription, incantation, mummery.

ceremony refers to a formal, usually solemn, act established as proper to some religious or state occasion the ceremony of launching a ship; rite refers to the prescribed form for a religious ceremony or procedure burial rites; ritual refers to rites or ceremonies collectively, esp. to the rites of a particular religion the ritual of voodooism, and in extended use is applied to a regularly repeated act or series of acts performed in a set, ceremonial manner bedtime rituals; formality suggests a conventional, often meaningless, act or custom, usually one associated with social activity the formalities of polite conversation

stand on ceremony