Parade Meaning
/pəˈɹeɪd/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounAn organized display of a group of people, particularly
nounAn organized display of a group of people, particularly, Synonym of military parade: A show of troops, an assembly of troops as a show of force, to receive orders, or especially for inspection at set times.
Sentence Examples
I hope you will join us in the parade and march along the street.
I caught sight of a parade on my way home.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The marching band led the annual ____ down Main Street on Independence Day.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city held a victory ____ to celebrate the team's championship win with thousands of fans lining the streets.
Word Origin & History
From French parade (“an ostentatious display, a military display”), from parer (“to beautify, prepare, take pride in”) + -ade probably under influence from earlier Italian parata (“preparation, a military parade, an ostentatious display”) and Latin magnō parātū (“with great preparation”). Various senses similarly influenced by earlier French and Italian uses. Doublet of pare.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"There is left round about the circuit of the whole quarter, a parallell on all sides some 200, or 250 foote betweene the front of the quarter and the trench, called an Alarme Place, for the souldiers to draw out into Armes, into Parade, or when any Alarme or commotion happens..."
— 1642, Henry Hexham, The Principles of Art Military, volume II, page 31:
"And from thir Ivorie Port the Cherubim
Forth issuing at th’accustomd hour stood armd
To thir night watches in warlike Parade,
When Gabriel to his next in power thus spake..."
— 1667, John Milton, “Book IV”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC, lines 779-782:
"The next night the soldiers began teaching the girls to dance... Claude saw that a good deal was going on, and he lectured his men at parade. But he realized that he might as well scold at the sparrows."
— 1922, Willa Cather, chapter 17, in One of Ours:
"Verrall... seldom put on his uniform for morning parade, not thinking it necessary with mere Military Policemen."
— 1934 October, George Orwell [pseudonym; Eric Arthur Blair], “Ch. 18”, in Burmese Days, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, →OCLC:
"A military parade is really a kind of ritual dance, something like a ballet, expressing a certain philosophy of life. The goose-step, for instance, is one of the most horrible sights in the world, far more terrifying than a dive-bomber. It is simply an affirmation of naked power; contained in it, quite consciously and intentionally, is the vision of a boot crashing down on a face. Its ugliness is part of its essence..."
— 1941, George Orwell, The Lion and the Unicorn, Pt. I:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The marching band led the annual ____ down Main Street on Independence Day.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The city held a victory ____ to celebrate the team's championship win with thousands of fans lining the streets.