a public instance of reciting or repeating (from memory) something prepared in advance; "the program included songs and recitations of well-loved poems"
the official act of consigning a person to confinement (as in a prison or mental hospital)
the act of binding yourself (intellectually or emotionally) to a course of action; "his long commitment to public service"; "they felt no loyalty to a losing team"
an engagement by contract involving financial obligation; "his business commitments took him to London"
existing in name only; "the nominal (or titular) head of his party"
insignificantly small; a matter of form only (`tokenish' is informal); "the fee was nominal"; "a token gesture of resistance"; "a toknenish gesture"
being value in terms of specification on currency or stock certificates rather than purchasing power; "nominal or face value"
pertaining to a noun or to a word group that functions as a noun; "nominal phrase"; "noun phrase"
relating to or constituting or bearing or giving a name; "the Russian system of nominal brevity"; "a nominal lists of priests"; "taxable males as revealed by the nominal rolls"
changed in order to improve or made more fit for a particular purpose; "seeds precisely adapted to the area"; "instructions altered to suit the children's different ages"
puffed up with vanity; "a grandiloquent and boastful manner"; "overblown oratory"; "a pompous speech"; "pseudo-scientific gobbledygook and pontifical hooey"- Newsweek
lofty in style; "he engages in so much tall talk, one never really realizes what he is saying"
designed for or capable of a particular function or use; "a style of writing in which every word is functional"; "functional architecture"
involving or affecting function rather than physiology; "functional deafness"
designed for or adapted to a function or use; "functional education selects knowledge that is concrete and usable rather than abstract and theoretical"; "functional architecture"
fit or ready for use or service; "the toaster was still functional even after being dropped"; "the lawnmower is a bit rusty but still usable"; "an operational aircraft"; "the dishwasher is now in working order"
relating to or based on function especially as opposed to structure; "the problem now is not a constitutional one; it is a functional one"; "delegates elected on a functional rather than a geographical basis"
the act of starting a new operation or practice; "he opposed the inauguration of fluoridation"; "the startup of the new factory was delayed by strikes"
the ceremonial induction into a position; "the new president obviously enjoyed his inauguration"
the act of starting something for the first time; introducing something new; "she looked forward to her initiation as an adult"; "the foundation of a new scientific society"; "he regards the fork as a modern introduction"
a formal entry into an organization or position or office; "his initiation into the club"; "he was ordered to report for induction into the army"; "he gave a speech as part of his installation into the hall of fame"
(physics) parity is conserved in a universe in which the laws of physics are the same in a right-handed system of coordinates as in a left-handed system
(mathematics) a relation between a pair of integers: if both integers are odd or both are even they have the same parity; if one is odd and the other is even they have different parity; "parity is often used to check the integrity of transmitted data"
(obstetrics) the number of liveborn children a woman has delivered; "the parity of the mother must be considered"; "a bipara is a woman who has given birth to two children"