Definitions

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  • noun Plural form of mummery.

Etymologies

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Examples

  • When dying the unfortunate musician bequeathed his daughter to the doctor, who was already her godfather, in spite of his repugnance for what he called the mummeries of the Church.

    Ursula 2006

  • They frowned severely on what they termed the mummeries of Madawando.

    A Little Girl in Old Quebec Amanda Minnie Douglas 1873

  • It is interesting that the word mummeries, which excited so much indignation in Lord John's Durham letter, occurs in this letter.

    Lady John Russell Ed 1910

  • Strutt [40] says that the "mummeries" practised by the lower classes of the people usually took place at the Christmas holidays; and such persons as could not procure masks rubbed their faces over with soot, or painted them; hence Sebastian Brant, in his "Ship of Fools"

    Christmas: Its Origin and Associations Together with Its Historical Events and Festive Celebrations During Nineteen Centuries William Francis Dawson

  • After dinner the loving cup went round: the minstrels led in the players: and they had dramatic shows, songs, dances and 'mummeries' for the rest of the day.

    The History of London Walter Besant 1868

  • Madame de Motteville has left us an amusing recital of the "mummeries," as she terms them, of which she was a witness.

    Political Women (Vol. 1 of 2) Sutherland Menzies 1861

  • Indeed, the missionaries, in their various religious ceremonies, -- or "mummeries," as they might be better styled, -- have always made large use of these palm-candles.

    The Forest Exiles The Perils of a Peruvian Family in the Wilds of the Amazon Mayne Reid 1850

  • "mummeries" in the affair of the dropped letters, 74; her account of the Queen's reception of the news of the abortive attempt to kill Mazarin, 103; her portrait of Madame de Longueville, 135; the principal motive which urged La Rochefoucauld to woo the

    Political Women (Vol. 1 of 2) Sutherland Menzies 1861

  • The candles, pictures, images, rosary, holdy water, ringing of bells, chanting in an unknown tongue -- all these mummeries which are so conspicuous in a Catholic service interest me chiefly from the fact

    Letter to Young John Allen,December 28, 1889 2008

  • The constituents for that representative will have time to read it, or read a trusted source that provides mummeries and they will have time to inform their representative of their feelings about abill.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » Read the Bill — A Reply to Eric: 2009

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