Noah Webster
Ceremony
CEREMONY, noun
1. Outward rite; external form in religion.
2. Forms of civility; rules established by custom for regulating social intercourse.
3. Outward forms of state; the forms prescribed or established by order or custom, serving for the purpose of civility or magnificence, as in levees of princes, the reception of ambassadors, etc.
Master of ceremonies, an officer who superintends the reception of ambassadors. A person who regulates the forms to be observed by the company or attendants on a public occasion.