Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Formal induction into office.
  • noun A formal beginning or introduction.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The act of inaugurating or inducting into office with solemnity; ceremonial investiture with office.
  • noun The act of solemnly or formally introducing or setting in motion anything of importance or dignity; a definite beginning or initiation: as, the inauguration of a new era or a new system.
  • noun A ceremonial or formal introduction or opening, as of something intended for public use: as, the inauguration of a monument or an exhibition.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of inuagurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
  • noun The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The act of inaugurating, or inducting into office with solemnity; investiture by appropriate ceremonies.
  • noun The formal beginning or initiation of any movement, course of action, etc.; as, the inauguration of a new system, a new condition, etc.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun the ceremonial induction into a position
  • noun the act of starting a new operation or practice

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From inaugurate.

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Examples

Comments

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  • Amazed that this hadn't been added...

    Happy day, people. Everyone here (at work) is on the verge of tears, but smiling.

    January 20, 2009

  • I grew up in the South in the middle of the Civil Rights movement. This is an astonishing day.

    January 21, 2009

  • About 200 people here gathered in an auditorium to watch it on a gigantic screen. Everyone stood, applauded, cried, just as if we were there.

    I liked the very end of the last prayer. :)

    January 21, 2009

  • I feel full of hope today.

    January 21, 2009

  • For the sake of Wordie posterity, perhaps you could mention what you're talking about.

    January 21, 2009

  • These posts began on January 20, 2009 and refer to the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America.

    January 22, 2009

  • :-D

    January 23, 2009