from
Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
INAUGURATION. This word was applied by the Romans to the ceremony of
dedicating some temple, or raising some man to the priesthood, after the
augurs had been consulted. It was afterwards applied to the installation
(q.v.) of the emperors, kings, and prelates, in imitation of the ceremonies
of
the Romans when they entered into the temple of the augurs. It is applied in
the United States to the installation of the chief magistrate of the
republic, and of the governors of the several states.