Etymology From Middle English processioun, borrowed from Old French pourciession, from Latin prōcessiō (“a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin a religious procession”), from prōcēdere, past participle prōcessus (“to move forward, advance, proceed”); see proceed.
1
The act of progressing or proceeding.
From whence it came to pass in the primitive times , that the Latin fathers taught expressly the procession of the Spirit from the Father and the Son1659, John Pearson, Exposition of the Creed:
Yet proof is here of men's unquenched desire / That the procession of their life might be / More equable majestic pure and free; […]1835, Richard Chenevix Trench, “The Same Continued”, in The Story of Justin Martyr, and Other Poems, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 126:
2
A group of people or things moving along in an orderly, stately, or solemn manner; a train of persons advancing in order; a retinue.
a procession of mourners
the Lord Mayor's procession
3 more examples
Here comes the towneſ-men, on Proceſſion, / To preſent your Highneſſe with the man.1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Second Part of Henry the Sixt, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene i], page 126, column 2:
By reason of these things, then, the whaling voyage was welcome; the great flood-gates of the wonder-world swung open, and in the wild conceits that swayed me to my purpose, two and two there floated into my inmost soul, endless processions of the whale, and, mid most of them all, one grand hooded phantom, like a snow hill in the air.1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter I, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 7:
The final fifty miles of the race was a procession with little change in the relative positions of the cars […]1914, Westways, volume 6, page 7:
3
A number of things happening in sequence (in space or in time).
Before he closed and opened his eyes, the bails on the wicket behind Johnny Masih were shattered. That was the beginning of a procession. The second ball clean bowled the batsman. The third ball was a catch for the wicketkeeper.2012, K. L. Mohana Varma, Cricket-Indo: The Story of an Indo-Pak One-Day Cricket Turf War, page 205:
Scotland moved nicely to 45 without loss before I took the first wicket and then it became a procession.2015, Steve Dolman, Edwin Smith: A Life in Derbyshire Cricket, page 36:
Etymology From Middle English processioun, borrowed from Old French pourciession, from Latin prōcessiō (“a marching forward, an advance, in Late Latin a religious procession”), from prōcēdere, past participle prōcessus (“to move forward, advance, proceed”); see proceed.