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engagement

 
Dictionary: en·gage·ment   (ĕn-gāj'mənt) pronunciation

n.
  1. The act of engaging or the state of being engaged.
  2. Betrothal.
  3. Something that serves to engage; a pledge.
  4. A promise or agreement to be at a particular place at a particular time.
    1. Employment, especially for a specified time.
    2. A specific, often limited, period of employment.
  5. A hostile encounter; a battle.
  6. The condition of being in gear.

SYNONYMS   engagement, appointment, assignation, date, rendezvous, tryst. These nouns denote a commitment to appear at a certain time and place: a business engagement; a dental appointment; a secret assignation; a date to play tennis; a rendezvous of agents at the border; a lovers' tryst.


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Thesaurus:

engagement

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noun

  1. A commitment, as for a performance by an entertainer: booking. Slang gig. See performing arts.
  2. The act or condition of being pledged to marry: betrothal, espousal, troth. See marriage/unmarried.
  3. A declaration that one will or will not do a certain thing: assurance, covenant, guarantee, guaranty, pledge, plight2, promise, solemn word, vow, warrant, word, word of honor. See obligation.
  4. A commitment to appear at a certain time and place: appointment, assignation, date, rendezvous, tryst. See agree/disagree.
  5. The act of employing for wages: employment, hire. See get/lose, work/play.
  6. A hostile encounter between opposing military forces: action, battle, combat. See conflict/cooperation.

Antonyms:

engagement

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n

Definition: battle
Antonyms: surrender

n

Definition: pledge to marry
Antonyms: break-up, disengagement


US Military Dictionary:

engagement

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n. a fight or battle between armed forces.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Law Encyclopedia:

Engagement

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This entry contains information applicable to United States law only.

A binding, pledging, or coming together. A mutual pact, contract, or agreement.

An engagement to marry is a bilateral contract between two people whereby they mutually promise to marry one another. Formerly, a breach of the engagement to marry was a cause of action in several jurisdictions, but this is not true today.

An engagement letter is a clear delineation of an agreement that covers a particular project or employment. An attorney can require a client to sign such a letter to indicate that the person has been employed to perform specifically designated tasks.

Military Dictionary:

engagement

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(DOD) 1. In air defense, an attack with guns or air-to-air missiles by an interceptor aircraft, or the launch of an air defense missile by air defense artillery and the missile's subsequent travel to intercept. 2. A tactical conflict, usually between opposing lower echelons maneuver forces. See also battle; campaign.

Word Tutor:

engagement

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pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - Employment for performers or performing groups that lasts for a limited period of time; A hostile meeting of opposing military forces in the course of a war; Act or state of betrothal; appointment.

pronunciation I couldn't attend the party because I had a previous engagement.

Quotes About:

Engagement

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Quotes:

"Pardon me, you are not engaged to any one. When you do become engaged to some one, I, or your father, should his health permit him, will inform you of the fact. An engagement should come on a young girl as a surprise, pleasant or unpleasant, as the case may be. It is hardly a matter that she could be allowed to arrange for herself." - Oscar Wilde

"No sooner met but they looked; no sooner looked but they loved; no sooner loved but they sighed; no sooner sighed but they asked one another the reason; no sooner knew the reason but they sought the remedy; and in these degrees have they made a pair of stairs to marriage, which they will climb incontinent, or else be incontinent before marriage." - William Shakespeare

"Can you support the expense of a husband, hussy, in gaming, drinking and whoring? Have you money enough to carry on the daily quarrels of man and wife about who shall squander most?" - John Gay

"I am about to be married, and am of course in all the misery of a man in pursuit of happiness." - Lord Byron

"An engaged woman is always more agreeable than a disengaged. She is satisfied with herself. Her cares are over, and she feels that she may exert all her powers of pleasing without suspicion. All is safe with a lady engaged; no harm can be done." - Jane Austen

Aviation Dictionary:

engagement

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i. In air defense, an attack with guns or air-to-air missiles by an interceptor aircraft, or the launch of an air defense missile by air defense artillery and the missile’s subsequent travel to intercept.
ii. Engagement of an arrester barrier or arrester by an aircraft. See aircraft arresting barrier.

Wikipedia:

Engagement

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An engagement is a promise to marriage, and also the period of time between proposal and marriage – which may be lengthy or trivial. During this period, a couple is said to be affianced, betrothed, engaged to be married, or simply engaged. Future brides and bridegrooms are often referred to as fiancées or fiancés respectively (from the French word fiancé). Its duration varies vastly. See Courtship#Duration

Long engagements were once common in formal arranged marriages and it was not uncommon for parents betrothing children to arrange such many years before the engaged couple were old enough to marry.

Contents

Origin

The concept of an official engagement period in Western culture may have begun in 1215 at the Fourth Lateran Council, headed by Pope Innocent III, which decreed that "marriages are to be ... announced publicly in the churches by the priests during a suitable and fixed time, so that if legitimate impediments exist, they may be made known."[1][2] Such a formal church announcement of the intent to marry is known as banns. In some jurisdictions, reading the banns may be part of one type of legal marriage.

Exceptions

In some cultures, notably in the west of Scotland, the promise of marriage, or agreement to marry is insufficient for the arrangement to be described as an engagement. Couples who decide to marry but who are not considered engaged include those where one or both partners is marrying for the second time; the groom has not proposed in a formal manner; or where no engagement ring has been given.

Engagement rings

A woman displays her engagement ring.

The modern Western form of the practice of giving or exchanging engagement rings is traditionally thought to have begun in 1477 when Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor, gave Mary of Burgundy a diamond ring as an engagement present.[3][4][citation needed]

Customs for engagement rings vary according to time, place, and culture. An engagement ring has historically been uncommon, and when such a gift was given, it was separate from the wedding ring. Romantic rings from the time of the Roman Empire and from as far back as 4 AD often resemble the Celtic Claddagh symbol (two hands clasping a heart) and so it is thought that this was used as some symbol of love and commitment between two people.[citation needed]

In the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia, and many other countries, an engagement ring is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand. The tradition of wearing a ring for engagement originated from the Egyptians, who believed the circle was a bond between the two people who were to be married, but was initially first practiced on the fourth finger/ring finger by the Romans, who believed this finger to be the beginning of the vena amoris ("vein of love"), the vein that leads to the heart. The custom in Continental Europe and other countries is to wear it on the right hand; one historical exception arose in monarchical regimes, in which a nobleman entering into morganatic marriage (marriage between a high noble and a lesser noble or a non-noble) would present his left hand to receive the ring (hence the alternative term "left-handed marriage" [Ger. Ehe zur linken Hand).[5]

In other countries from South America, like in Argentina, man and woman each use one ring, and these are generally very similar to the wedding rings, with the difference that they are made of silver instead of gold. In Nordic countries such as Finland and Norway, both men and women wear an engagement ring. In Brazil, they are always made of gold, and there is no tradition for the engagement ring. Both men and women wear the wedding band on their right hand while engaged, and after they marry, they shift the rings to their left hands.

In the modern era, some women's wedding rings are made into two separate pieces. One part is given to her to wear as an engagement ring when she accepts the marriage proposal, and the other during the wedding ceremony. When worn together, the two rings look like one piece of jewelery.

Engagement parties

Some engagements are announced at an engagement party, traditionally hosted by the bride's parents. These parties are given in the family's usual style of entertainment. Traditionally, engagement parties were normal parties at which a surprise announcement of the engagement was made by the father of the bride to his guests. Therefore, it is not a traditional gift-giving occasion, as none of the guests were supposed to be aware of the engagement until after their arrival.

In modern times, engagement parties often celebrate a previously publicized engagement. Whether presents are given at these engagement parties varies from culture to culture.

Many couples do not have an engagement party, and instead use other ways to inform their friends of the upcoming nuptials.

Notes


Translations:

engagement

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Engagement

Dansk (Danish)
n. - ansættelse, forlovelse, aftale, sammenstød, træfning, engagement, optagethed

Nederlands (Dutch)
treffen, afspraak, verloving, belofte, engagement, financiële verplichting, betrokkenheid, ingeschakeld, vijandelijke ontmoeting

Français (French)
n. - rendez-vous, fiançailles, contrat de fiançailles, engagement (d'un acteur), obligation, promesse, (Mil) action, combat, engagement

Deutsch (German)
n. - Verabredung, Verlobung, Engagement, Kampf

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - δέσμευση, υποχρέωση, αρραβώνας, μνηστεία, κλείσιμο, "αγκαζάρισμα", υπόσχεση, ηθική δέσμευση, (επαγγελματική κ.λπ.) συνάντηση, ραντεβού, κοινωνική υποχρέωση, (στρατ.) εμπλοκή (σε μάχη), συμπλοκή, πρόσληψη, μίσθωση

Italiano (Italian)
scontro, appuntamento, fidanzamento, promessa

Português (Portuguese)
n. - noivado (m)

Русский (Russian)
найм, обязательство, помолвка, встреча

Español (Spanish)
n. - combate, cita, noviazgo, acuerdo, compromiso, promesa

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - förbindelse, möte, förlovning, engagemang

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
诺言, 婚约, 约会

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 諾言, 婚約, 約會

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 약속, 채무, 약혼, 용무, 고용, 교전, 관여

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 約束, 契約, 婚約, 債務, 雇用, かみ合わせ

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) خطبه, ارتباط, تعهد‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮התחייבות, אירוסין, קרב, התקפה, פגישה, התחייבות מוסרית, התקשרות‬


 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
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Military Dictionary. US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Words, 2003.  Read more
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