rite

[ rahyt ]

/ raɪt /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rite ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a formal or ceremonial act or procedure prescribed or customary in religious or other solemn use: rites of baptism; sacrificial rites.

a particular form or system of religious or other ceremonial practice: the Roman rite.

(often initial capital letter) a liturgy or liturgical system, especially one of the historical versions of the Eucharistic service: the Anglican Rite.

(sometimes initial capital letter) Eastern Church, Western Church. a division or differentiation of churches based on liturgical practice.

any customary observance or practice: the rite of afternoon tea.

Nearby words

Origin of rite

1275–1325; Middle English (< Old French rit(e)) < Latin rītus

SYNONYMS FOR rite

1. observance, form, usage.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR rite ON THESAURUS.COM

Related formsrite·less, adjectiverite·less·ness, noun

Can be confusedright rite wright write

Synonym study

1. See ceremony.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for rite

In the neighborhoods they grow up in, prison is a rite of passage and being a street gangster is a viable career choice.
The Mexican Mafia Is the Daddy of All Street Gangs|Seth Ferranti|December 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
For anyone whose political sympathies lie left of center, discovering and reading Chomsky is a rite of passage.
Noam Chomsky—Infuriating and Necessary|David Masciotra|September 28, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A rite of passage solely reserved for adolescent girls, the painful custom is believed to be as old as the local creation myth.
Facial Tattoos: The Tribal Female Rite in Papua New Guinea|Brandon Presser|August 11, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Doing well at the Gridiron is a rite of passage that not everybody survives.
The GOP’s Comedy Gap|Eleanor Clift|March 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Walgreens and Rite Aid—seeing the glowing publicity CVS is benefitting from—will quickly follow suit.
The War on Smoking Didn’t Save My Mother’s Life, but It Could Save Many More|Joe Concha|February 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The Bulgarian rite also aims at propitiating general good luck.
Modern Mythology|Andrew Lang
It seems to have had its origin in a rite which took place after the crew had 'worked off the dead horse.'
The Shanty Book, Part I, Sailor Shanties|Richard Runciman Terry
I should like something else: a little addition to the rite.
Jane Eyre|Charlotte Bronte
Other scholars refuse to accept Hepding's distinction between an earlier and a later form of the rite.
The Origin of Paul's Religion|J. Gresham Machen
In the meantime here are six heathen alive and well, or at any rate well enough to support, willy-nilly, the rite of holy baptism.
Christopher Columbus, Complete|Filson Young

British Dictionary definitions for rite

rite

/ (raɪt) /

noun

a formal act or procedure prescribed or customary in religious ceremoniesfertility rites; the rite of baptism

a particular body of such acts or procedures, esp of a particular Christian Churchthe Latin rite

a Christian Churchthe Greek rite

Word Origin for rite

C14: from Latin rītus religious ceremony

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 rite

rite

early 14c., from Latin ritus "religious observance or ceremony, custom, usage," perhaps from PIE root *re(i)- "to count, number" (cf. Greek arithmos "number," Old English rim "number;" see read (v.)). Rite of passage (1909) is translated from French rite de passage, coined by French anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873-1957).

rite

noun

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Nearby words

Origin of rite

Synonym study

Examples from the Web for rite

rite

noun

Word Origin for rite

rite