means A grand public spectacle or competition—often involving costumes, processions, or contestants displaying beauty, talent, or poise.

from From the medieval Latin 'pagina,' meaning a 'page' or framework, and Anglo-Latin 'pagina'/'pagina,' which came to mean the movable stage or scaffold on which medieval mystery plays were performed. English 'pageant' (originally 'pagyn' or 'pagent') first referred to one of these wheeled platforms rolling through town, and then to the play itself—until the word drifted toward any showy display. The unexpected '-t' on the end appears to be an English accretion of uncertain origin, much like the one in 'tyrant' or 'peasant.'