Celebrate - Wiktionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English celebraten, from celebrat(e) (“celebrated”, also used as the past participle of celebraten) +‎ -en, borrowed from Latin celebrātus, perfect passive participle of celebrō (“frequent, go to in great numbers, celebrate, honor, praise”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from celeber (“frequented, populous”). Displaced native Old English fæġnian.

Pronunciation

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• (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/
• (General American, Canada) IPA(key): /ˈsɛl.ə.bɹeɪt/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• (General Australian, New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈsel.ə.bɹæɪt/
• (Indic) IPA(key): /sɛ(ː).le.breːʈ/

Verb

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celebrate (third-person singular simple present celebrates, present participle celebrating, simple past and past participle celebrated)

1. (transitive) To extol or honour in a solemn manner. Synonym: fete to celebrate the name of the Most High
   • 1954 March, “Notes and News: S.L.S. Tour of Tilbury Lines”, in Railway Magazine, page 215:To celebrate the centenary next month of the opening of the first section (Forest Gate to Tilbury) of the former London, Tilbury & Southend Railway, the Stephenson Locomotive Society is organising a special rail tour over that route and other lesser-known L.T.S.R. lines.
   • 2016 August 7, “Journalism”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 3, episode 20, John Oliver (actor), via HBO:Okay, that is simply not true. If that were the case, you wouldn’t need to have an Olympics. The whole reason we do this is to find out who is better than everyone else, so that we can make them stand higher than the other people who are not as good as them, because the point of the games is not to celebrate equality. It is to celebrate individuals’ excellence. So let us all settle in for two incredible weeks of celebrating the fittest, the bravest, the most beautiful and of course, the drunkest of us all. “Did somebody say ‘party’?”
   • 2024 April 17, David Sasaki, “The emotionally immature lives of men and women”, in The Time Capsule‎[1], archived from the original on 12 November 2024:Instead, we retreat into our gender-segregated media spaces where the manosphere extols stoicism and the womanosphere celebrates emotional vulnerability.
2. (transitive) To honour by rites, by ceremonies of joy and respect, or by refraining from ordinary business; to observe duly. Synonyms: observe, keep to celebrate a birthday
   • 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:Hester Earle and Violet Wayne were moving about the aisle with bundles of wheat-ears and streamers of ivy, for the harvest thanksgiving was shortly to be celebrated, while the vicar stood waiting for their directions on the chancel steps with a great handful of crimson gladioli.
3. (transitive or intransitive) To engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event. I was promoted today at work—let’s celebrate!
   • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎[2], archived from the original on 22 April 2022:As Di Matteo celebrated and captain John Terry raised the trophy for the fourth time, the Italian increased his claims to become the permanent successor to Andre Villas-Boas by landing a trophy.
4. (transitive) To perform or participate in, as a sacrament or solemn rite; to perform with appropriate rites. Synonym: solemnize to celebrate a marriage

Usage notes

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In sense “to conduct ceremonies, to follow a custom”, generally used of festive occasions, such as Christmas and birthdays. For more solemn occasions, particularly certain religious holidays (“holy days”) and commemorations, the term observe is used instead, as in “This office will be closed in observance of Veterans Day.”

Conjugation

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infinitive	(to) celebrate
present tense	past tense
1st-person singular	celebrate	celebrated
2nd-person singular	celebrate, celebratest†	celebrated, celebratedst†
3rd-person singular	celebrates, celebrateth†	celebrated
plural	celebrate
subjunctive	celebrate	celebrated
imperative	celebrate	—
participles	celebrating	celebrated

† Archaic or obsolete.

Derived terms

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• celebratable
• celebrate one's 19th birthday in Poland
• celebrating Palm Sunday
• concelebrate
• over-celebrate
• overcelebrate
• precelebrate
• recelebrate

Related terms

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• celebrant
• celebrated
• celebration
• celebrative
• celebrator
• celebratory
• celebrity

Translations

[edit] extol or honour in a solemn manner

Belarusian: праслаўля́ць impf (praslawljácʹ), прасла́віць pf (praslávicʹ) Bulgarian: просла́вям (bg) impf (proslávjam), просла́вя (bg) pf (proslávja) Chinese: Mandarin: 頌揚 / 颂扬 (zh) (sòngyáng) Danish: prise Dutch: vieren (nl) Finnish: ylistää (fi) French: rendre hommage (fr), célébrer (fr) Galician: celebrar (gl) German: feiern (de), zelebrieren (de) Greek: γιορτάζω (el) (giortázo) Guarani: Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) hecharamo Hebrew: חגג (he) (khagág) Indonesian: merayakan (id) Italian: celebrare (it) Latin: celebrō Māori: whakanui, whakahari Polish: wychwalać (pl) impf, sławić (pl) impf Portuguese: celebrar (pt) Romanian: celebra (ro) Russian: че́ствовать (ru) impf (čéstvovatʹ) (no perfective), прославля́ть (ru) impf (proslavljátʹ), просла́вить (ru) pf (proslávitʹ) Spanish: honrar (es), loar (es), alabar (es) Swedish: fira (sv) Turkish: kutlamak (tr), tesit etmek (tr) (obsolete) Ukrainian: прославля́ти impf (proslavljáty), просла́вити pf (proslávyty)

honour by rites, ceremonies, etc.

Arabic: اِحْتَفَلَ (iḥtafala) Aromanian: sãrbãturescu Assamese: পাল (pal), পালন কৰ (palon kor) Bulgarian: че́ствам impf (čéstvam), ознамену́вам (bg) impf (oznamenúvam) Catalan: celebrar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 慶祝 / 庆祝 (zh) (qìngzhù) Czech: slavit (cs) Danish: højtideligholde Dutch: vieren (nl) Finnish: juhlia (fi) French: fêter (fr), célébrer (fr) Galician: celebrar (gl) German: feiern (de), zelebrieren (de), halten (de) Greek: γιορτάζω (el) (giortázo) Ancient Greek: ποιέω (poiéō) Guarani: Paraguayan Guarani: (please verify) hecharamo Hebrew: חגג (he) (khagág) Hungarian: ünnepel (hu) Indonesian: merayakan (id) Ingrian: veettää Irish: ceiliúir, ceiliúradh a dhéanamh ar Italian: festeggiare (it), celebrare (it) Japanese: 祝う (ja) (いわう, iwau) Kazakh: мерекелеу (merekeleu) Korean: 축하하다 (ko) (chukhahada) Latin: celebrō, faciō (la) Malayalam: ആഘോഷിക്കുക (ml) (āghōṣikkuka) Māori: whakanui Occitan: celebrar (oc) Persian: جشن گرفتن (fa) (jašn gereftan) Polish: obchodzić (pl) impf, celebrować (pl) impf Portuguese: celebrar (pt) Romanian: celebra (ro), sărbători (ro) Russian: пра́здновать (ru) impf (prázdnovatʹ), отпра́здновать (ru) pf (otprázdnovatʹ), че́ствовать (ru) impf (čéstvovatʹ) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: славити Latin: slaviti (sh) Sicilian: fistijari Spanish: celebrar (es) Tamil: கொண்டாடு (ta) (koṇṭāṭu) Turkish: kutlamak (tr) Ukrainian: сла́вити (uk) impf (slávyty), святкува́ти impf (svjatkuváty), відсвяткува́ти pf (vidsvjatkuváty), посвяткува́ти pf (posvjatkuváty) Vietnamese: kỷ niệm (vi) Walloon: fiesti (wa)

to engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event

American Sign Language: X@SideChinhigh-X@SideChinhigh CirclesHoriz-CirclesHoriz Arabic: اِحْتَفَلَ (iḥtafala) Armenian: տոնել (hy) (tonel) Assamese: পাল (pal), পালন কৰ (palon kor) Belarusian: святкава́ць impf (svjatkavácʹ), адсвяткава́ць pf (adsvjatkavácʹ) Bulgarian: празну́вам (bg) impf (praznúvam) Catalan: celebrar (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 慶祝 / 庆祝 (zh) (qìngzhù), 慶賀 / 庆贺 (zh) (qìnghè) Danish: fejre, feste Esperanto: celebri, festi Finnish: juhlia (fi) French: fêter (fr), faire la fête (fr) Galician: festexar (gl), celebrar (gl) Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: feiern (de) Gothic: 𐌳𐌿𐌻𐌸𐌾𐌰𐌽 (dulþjan) Greek: γιορτάζω (el) (giortázo) Indonesian: rayakan (id) Ingrian: pittää, veettää Italian: festeggiare (it) Japanese: 祝う (ja) (いわう, iwau) Kazakh: мерекелеу (merekeleu) Korean: 축하하다 (ko) (chukhahada) Malayalam: ആഘോഷിക്കുക (ml) (āghōṣikkuka) Māori: hari Occitan: celebrar (oc) Polish: świętować (pl) impf, uczcić (pl) pf, oblać (pl) pf (colloquial), fetować (pl) impf, celebrować (pl) impf Portuguese: celebrar (pt), festejar (pt) Quechua: kusikuy (qu) Romanian: sărbători (ro) Russian: пра́здновать (ru) impf (prázdnovatʹ), отпра́здновать (ru) pf (otprázdnovatʹ) Spanish: celebrar (es), festejar (es) Swedish: fira (sv) Tamil: கொண்டாடு (ta) (koṇṭāṭu) Ukrainian: святкува́ти impf (svjatkuváty), відсвяткува́ти pf (vidsvjatkuváty), посвяткува́ти pf (posvjatkuváty) Vietnamese: mừng (vi)

perform or participate in

Catalan: celebrar (ca) Dutch: vieren (nl) Finnish: juhlia (fi) French: célébrer (fr) Galician: celebrar (gl) German: feiern (de), zelebrieren (de) Greek: γιορτάζω (el) (giortázo) Hungarian: celebrál (hu) Indonesian: merayakan (id) Irish: ceiliúir Italian: celebrare (it) Malayalam: ആഘോഷിക്കുക (ml) (āghōṣikkuka) Portuguese: celebrar (pt) Russian: пра́здновать (ru) impf (prázdnovatʹ) Spanish: celebrar (es), Ukrainian: святкува́ти impf (svjatkuváty)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations. Translations to be checked

Esperanto: (please verify) celebri Ido: (please verify) celebrar (io) Norwegian: (please verify) feire (no) Welsh: (please verify) dathlu (cy)

Further reading

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• “celebrate”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “celebrate”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “celebrate”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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• erectable

Esperanto

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Adverb

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celebrate

1. present adverbial passive participle of celebri

Italian

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Verb

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celebrate

1. inflection of celebrare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

Anagrams

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• cablerete

Latin

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Verb

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celebrāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of celebrō

Spanish

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Verb

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celebrate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of celebrar combined with te