4. Fitted to awaken or express serious reflections; marked by seriousness; serious; grave; devout; as, a
solemn promise; solemn earnestness.
Nor wanting power to mitigate and swage
With solemn touches troubled thoughts.
Milton.
There reigned a solemn silence over all.
Spenser. 5. Real; earnest; downright. [Obs. & R.]
Frederick, the emperor, . . . has spared no expense in strengthening this city; since which time we find
no solemn taking it by the Turks.
Fuller. 6. Affectedly grave or serious; as, to put on a solemn face. "A solemn coxcomb." Swift.
7. (Law) Made in form; ceremonious; as, solemn war; conforming with all legal requirements; as, probate
in solemn form. Burrill. Jarman. Greenleaf.
Solemn League and Covenant. See Covenant, 2.
Syn. — Grave; formal; ritual; ceremonial; sober; serious; reverential; devotional; devout. See Grave.
Solemness
(Sol"em*ness) n. Solemnness.
Some think he wanted solemnes.
Sir H. Wotton. Solemnity
(So*lem"ni*ty) n.; pl. Solemnities [L. solemnitas, solennitas: cf. F. solennité, solemnité, OF.
also sollempnité.]
1. A rite or ceremony performed with religious reverence; religious or ritual ceremony; as, the solemnity
of a funeral, a sacrament.
Great was the cause; our old solemnities
From no blind zeal or fond tradition rise,
But saved from death,
our Argives yearly pay
These grateful honors to the god of day.
Pope. 2. ceremony adapted to impress with awe.
The forms and solemnities of the last judgment.
Atterburry. 3. Ceremoniousness; impressiveness; seriousness; grave earnestness; formal dignity; gravity.
With much glory and great solemnity.
Chaucer.
The statelines and gravity of the Spaniards shows itself in the solemnity of their language.
Addison.
These promises were often made with great solemnity and confirmed with an oath.
J. Edwards. 4. Hence, affected gravity or seriousness.
Solemnity 's a cover for a sot.
Young. 5. Solemn state or feeling; awe or reverence; also, that which produces such a feeling; as, the solemnity
of an audience; the solemnity of Westminster Abbey.
6. (Law) A solemn or formal observance; proceeding according to due form; the formality which is necessary
to render a thing done valid.
Solemnizate
(So*lem"ni*zate) v. t. To solemnize; as, to solemnizate matrimony. [R.] Bp. Burnet.
