Definition of "ceremony"

To whom the Priest with naked armes full netApproching nigh, and murdrous knife well whet,Gan mutter close a certaine secret charme,With other diuelish ceremonies met:

1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book VI, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, pages 463-464

In the fourteenth day of this month, at even, ye shall keep [the passover] in his appointed season: according to all the rites of it, and according to all the ceremonies thereof, shall ye keep it.

1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], Numbers 9:3

Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.

1881, Henry James, Jr., chapter 1, in The Portrait of a Lady, New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], page 1

[…] to feed were best at home;From thence the sauce to meat is ceremony;Meeting were bare without it.

c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act III, scene iv]

Monsieur Bridet, notwithstanding his costume and his evident harrassment [sic], found in himself the presence of mind to remain the attentive manager, and with ceremony effected the proper introduction.

1928, W. Somerset Maugham, “Miss King”, in Ashenden‎, New York: Avon, published 1943, page 37

They went into the bars and interrupted the drinking, hustling the men out without ceremony.

1959, C. S. Forester, Hunting the Bismarck‎, London: Michael Joseph

Meanwhile the winged Heralds, by commandOf sovereign power, with awful ceremonyAnd trumpet’s sound, throughout the host proclaimA solemn council forthwith to be heldAt Pandemonium […]

1667, John Milton, “Book I”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […]; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, lines 752-756

Immediately after her arrival, the queen rode forth to survey the camp and its environs: wherever she went, she was attended by a splendid retinue; and all the commanders vied with each other, in the pomp and ceremony with which they received her.

1829, Washington Irving, chapter 46, in A Chronicle of the Conquest of Granada‎, volume II, Philadelphia: Carey, Lea & Carey, page 254

[…] his ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man […]

1599, William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act IV, scene i]

[…] Well, believe this,No ceremony that to great ones ’longs,Not the king’s crown, nor the deputed sword,The marshal’s truncheon, nor the judge’s robe,Become them with one half so good a graceAs mercy does.

c. 1603–1604 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Measure for Measure”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]

For he is superstitious grown of late,Quite from the main opinion he held onceOf fantasy, of dreams, and ceremonies.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene i]

Caesar, I never stood on ceremonies,Yet now they fright me.

1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act II, scene ii]