SKIP TO CONTENT

celebrant

/ˈsɛləbrənt/
IPA guide

Other forms: celebrants

Someone who's celebrating a happy event is a celebrant. The celebrant, sometimes with the help of friends or family, is the person who gets to blow out the candles on the birthday cake.

You can use celebrant to mean the person being honored at a celebration, or everyone who's participating in it: "The New Year's Eve celebrants cheered as the clock struck midnight." The original meaning of this noun, and the one still most common outside of North America, is "someone who officiates," either at a wedding or a religious service. Celebrant comes from the Latin word celebrare, "assemble to honor."

Definitions of celebrant
  1. noun
    a person who is celebrating
    synonyms: celebrater, celebrator
    see moresee less
    types:
    merrymaker, reveler, reveller
    a celebrant who shares in a noisy party
    roisterer
    an especially noisy and unrestrained merrymaker
    type of:
  2. noun
    an officiating priest celebrating the Eucharist
    see moresee less
    type of:
    priest
    a clergyman in Christian churches who has the authority to perform or administer various religious rites; one of the Holy Orders
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
  • MLA
  • APA
  • Chicago

Copy citation
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘celebrant'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors. Send us feedback
Word Family