cabala
or cab·ba·la, kab·a·la, kab·ba·la, kab·ba·lah
[kab-uh-luh, kuh-bah-]
- a system of esoteric theosophy and theurgy developed by rabbis, reaching its peak about the 12th and 13th centuries, and influencing certain medieval and Renaissance Christian thinkers. It was based on a mystical method of interpreting Scripture by which initiates claimed to penetrate sacred mysteries. Among its central doctrines are, all creation is an emanation from the Deity and the soul exists from eternity.
- any occult or secret doctrine or science.
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Origin of cabala
1515–25; < Medieval Latin cab(b)ala < Hebrew qabbālāh ‘tradition’, literally, something received, i.e., handed down
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for cabala
Historical Examples
But if you were to teach me the cabala, you would impart to me these holy names?
The Memoires of Casanova, CompleteJacques Casanova de Seingalt
The Cabala teaches us the infinite significance of words and names.
The Magic of the Middle AgesViktor Rydberg
Astrology as well as the Cabala gives various methods for this purpose.
The Magic of the Middle AgesViktor Rydberg
The Cabala, as we have seen, was made up of these heterogeneous elements.
Secret Societies And Subversive MovementsNesta H. Webster
This may be so, yet imperceptibly the Cabala has moulded the mind of the Jew.
Secret Societies And Subversive MovementsNesta H. Webster
cabala
- a variant spelling of kabbalah
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Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for cabala
n.
1670s, variant of cabbala. Related: Cabalist.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper