Meaning & use
commemorate
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Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To honor the memory of a person or an event with a ceremony, event or celebration.
Grammar: Takes an object: commemorate the soldiers. It looks back to the past.
Patterns
- commemorate someone
- commemorate an event
- commemorate something with something
Every year the town commemorates the flood with a quiet ceremony.
People gathered to commemorate the victims of the accident.
We commemorate the anniversary with a moment of silence.
verbtransitiveformal
To serve as something that reminds people of a person or an event, such as a statue or a coin.
Grammar: The subject is the object that honors: the statue commemorates the pilot.
Patterns
- something commemorates someone
A bronze plaque commemorates the founder of the school.
The coin commemorates the 100th anniversary of the bridge.
This stamp commemorates the first flight across the ocean.
Word forms
| third person singular | commemorates |
|---|---|
| past tense | commemorated |
| past participle | commemorated |
| -ing form | commemorating |
Common combinations
- commemorate the anniversary
- They held a concert to commemorate the anniversary.
- commemorate the victims
- A statue was built to commemorate the victims.
- commemorate a battle
- The festival commemorates a battle fought in 1650.
- commemorate with a plaque
- The visit was commemorated with a plaque.
- annually commemorate
- The town annually commemorates its founders.
Synonyms and how they differ
- celebrate
- Celebrate is joyful and can cover future or present events, whereas commemorate always looks back with respect.
- honor
- Honor is a wider word for showing respect to anyone, and does not need to refer to a past event.
- remember
- Remember can be a private thought, while commemorate involves a public act or a physical reminder.
- memorialize
- Memorialize is more formal and usually refers to making a lasting monument or record.
Opposites
Word family
- commemoration noun
- an act of honoring a memory
- commemorative adjective
- made to honor a past event
- memory noun
- the ability to remember, or something remembered
- memorial noun
- a monument or event that honors someone
Commonly confused: commemorate or commemorate vs. commiserate?
commemorate vs commemorate vs. commiserate
Commiserate means to express sympathy with someone in sorrow, while commemorate means to honor a memory.
Practice
A new monument was built to ______ the soldiers who died in the war.
Choose one answer.
Commemorate means to honor the memory of the dead; the other verbs do not fit the idea of remembering.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “commemorate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.