pomp
Show of magnificence; parade; display; power.
Noun
- Show of magnificence; parade; display; power.
- 'Tis a gross visible errour, which Tertullian teaches in his Book of Idolatry cap. 18. That all the marks of Dignity and Power, and all the ornaments annexed to Office, are forbid Christians, and that Jesus Christ hath...
- The deafening claps of thunder and the dazzling flashes of lightning which lit up the ghastly scene testified that the artillery of heaven had lent its supernatural pomp to the already gruesome spectacle. - 1922...
- In its pomp Victoria had 17 platforms, but many of the through platforms were demolished in the early 1990s to make way for the Manchester Arena. - 2019 November 6, “1901 tramcar joins Manchester Victoria celebrations”,...
- A procession distinguished by ostentation and splendor; a pageant.
- […] a more beautiful expression of joy and thanksgiving than could have been exhibited by all the pomps of a Roman triumph. - 1713, Joseph Addison, The Guardian:
Origin
The noun is derived from Middle English pomp, pompe, from Old French pompe, from Latin pompa (“pomp”), from Ancient Greek πομπή (pompḗ, “a sending, a solemn procession, pomp”), from πέμπω (pémpō, “to send”). The verb is derived from Middle English pompen, from pomp, pompe (see above).
Forms
Related
Derived
Verb obsolete
- To make a pompous display.
- pomp'd for those hard trifles - a. 1638 (date written), Benjamin Jonson [i.e., Ben Jonson], “Under-woods. Consisting of Divers Poems. (please specify the poem)”, in The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. The Second Volume. […]...
Forms
Derived
Verb obsolete, transitive
- To pamper.
Origin
From Middle English pompen. Possibly an alteration of pampen (English pamp), from Middle Low German pampen (“to pamper oneself, live luxuriously”), from Old Saxon *pampōn, from Proto-Germanic *pampōną (“to swell”), from Proto-Indo-European *bamb- (“round object”).