solemnize (solemnizes, present participle solemnizing; past and past participle solemnized)

1. (transitive, US) To make solemn, or official, through ceremony or legal act.

   The couple chose to solemnize their relationship in a secular ceremony, instead of having a wedding.

   • Baptism to be administered in one place, and marriage solemnized in another.

   • 1671, John Milton, “Samson Agonistes, […]”, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem. In IV Books. To which is Added, Samson Agonistes, London: Printed by J. M[acock] for John Starkey […], OCLC 228732398 ↗, pages 95–96 ↗:

     Thir choice nobility and flower […] Met from all parts to ſolemnize this Feaſt.

2. To make grave, serious, and reverential.

   • Wordsworth was solemnized and elevated by this his first look on Yarrow.

   • Every Israelite […] arose, solemnized his face, looked towards Jerusalem […] and prayed.