encenia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. Festive ceremonies observed in early times in honor of the construction of cities or the consecration of churches, and in later times at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge in honor of founders and benefactors: exceptionally used as a singular.
2. Specifically In the Greek New Testament, and hence sometimes in English writing, the Jewish feast of the dedication. See feast.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. A festival commemorative of the founding of a city or the consecration of a church; also, the ceremonies (as at Oxford and Cambridge, England) commemorative of founders or benefactors.