Etymology Late 14th c. as Middle English pagent, from Medieval Latin pagina (“play in a cycle of mystery plays”), perhaps from Latin pāgina (“page of a book”).
1
An elaborate public display, especially a parade in historical or traditional costume.
For a few moments the events of the day floated in disastrous pageant through my brain, till sleep bathed it in forgetfulness […]1826, [Mary Shelley], chapter IV, in The Last Man. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC:
The artists who painted these murals brought the pageant of America vividly to life. Everyone knew that the construction of this pageant, and the celebration of America that it implied, was the work of the New Deal.2022, Gary Gerstle, chapter 1, in The Rise and Fall of the Neoliberal Order […] , New York: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, Part I. The New Deal Order, 1930–1980:
2
A spectacular ceremony.
3
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of beauty pageant.
4
Obsolete A wheeled platform for the exhibition of plays, etc.
Etymology Late 14th c. as Middle English pagent, from Medieval Latin pagina (“play in a cycle of mystery plays”), perhaps from Latin pāgina (“page of a book”).
1
To exhibit in show; to represent; to mimic.
He pageants us.c. 1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii]: