_pomp_
Noun.
Plural: pomps.
Pronunciation: pɒmp.
Etymology: from French pompe, from Latin pompa, from Greek pompē (= a sending, a solemn procession, a train, parade, display, pomp), from
the Greek verb pémpein (= to send). It is identical with Spanish pompa, Italian pompa, and French pompe.
1. (Archaic acceptation. Documented since 1300)
a public parade; a
ceremonial procession; a triumphal train; a showy pageant; a flaunty march.
This is the custom of sending on a basket-woman, who is to precede the pomp at a coronation, and to strew
the stage with flowers, before the great personages begin their procession.
Henry Fielding… The History of Tom Jones
Those pomps or processions of young men
and damsels […] who […] displayed themselves at the festivals.
John Robinson… Archæologia Græca
2. Hence: a magnificent show concomitant with an act, a
process, or a state, and intended to be admired by an human plurality; magnificence;
sumptuous display or celebration.
Synonyms: splendour,
ostentation.
Antonyms: vulgarity,
unostentatiousness, plainess, simplicity.
He
was crowned King of England, with great pomp, at Westminster.
Charles Dickens… A Child’s Story of England
The marriage was solemnized with much pomp, and a few days after there was a feast in that very wainscoted chamber
which you paused to remark was so gloomy.
Charles Maturin… Melmoth the Wanderer
The title of Princess of Wales was not conferred upon her, but she was
surrounded by all the pomps and emblems of sovereignty.
James Froude… The Reign of Mary Tudor
I found myself within a strange city […]. The pomps and pageantries of
a stately court, and the mad clangor of arms, and the radiant loveliness of
women, bewildered and intoxicated my brain.
Edgar Poe… Eleonora
3. Pomps: pompous displays, actions,
or things.
4. Metaphorically, when referred to natural
facts.
As
she descended on the Italian side, the precipices became still more tremendous,
and the prospects still more wild and majestic, over which the shifting lights
threw all the pomp of
colouring.
Ann Radcliffe… The Mysteries of Udolpho
5. With less propriety: ostentation; showiness.
[Madame
de Stäel] recited them [verses] often with great pomp and emphasis, and said, “That
is what I call poetry!”
William Gardiner… Music of Nature
At home nothing will equal the pomp and splendour of the Hotel de la Republique.
Edmund Burke… Speeches
Words
derived from English POMP: pomp (v.), pompal, pompous, pompously, pompousness,
pomposity, unpompous, pompless.
