ritual
[rich-oo-uh l]
- an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite.
- a system or collection of religious or other rites.
- observance of set forms in public worship.
- a book of rites or ceremonies.
- a book containing the offices to be used by priests in administering the sacraments and for visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, etc.
- a prescribed or established rite, ceremony, proceeding, or service: the ritual of the dead.
- prescribed, established, or ceremonial acts or features collectively, as in religious services.
- any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.
- a prescribed code of behavior regulating social conduct, as that exemplified by the raising of one's hat or the shaking of hands in greeting.
- Psychiatry. a specific act, as hand-washing, performed repetitively to a pathological degree, occurring as a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive neurosis.
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- of the nature of or practiced as a rite or ritual: a ritual dance.
- of or relating to rites or ritual: ritual laws.
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Origin of ritual
Synonyms
See more synonyms for ritual on Thesaurus.com11. ceremonial, formal, sacramental.
Synonym study
1. See ceremony.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for ritual
Contemporary Examples
The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.
What ritual did some celebrities start engaging in over the summer?
Followers had traveled many miles to mourn the loss, and aid in the ritual washing, dressing, and honoring of the body.
Wicca includes ceremony and ritual that serves the union of the divine with nature rather than embracing a personal god.
‘Gods of Suburbia’: Dina Goldstein’s Arresting Photo Series on Religion vs. ConsumerismDina Goldstein
November 8, 2014
Ghusul is a ritual cleansing from head to toe, in this instance performed with all the solemnity of a trip to a water park.
Historical Examples
Throughout the ritual of the day he could not grow accustomed to saying good-bye.
The Education of Eric LaneStephen McKenna
It is very remarkable, and although infallible, I never read it in any ritual.
The Phantom WorldAugustin Calmet
They lead a sort of ritual dance, that most of us have agreed to take seriously.
The RescueJoseph Conrad
The interests of the prophets, however, do not centre in ritual.
History of ReligionAllan Menzies
In this the Roman ritual is markedly different from the Greek.
History of ReligionAllan Menzies
ritual
- the prescribed or established form of a religious or other ceremony
- such prescribed forms in general or collectively
- stereotyped activity or behaviour
- psychol any repetitive behaviour, such as hand-washing, performed by a person with a compulsive personality disorder
- any formal act, institution, or procedure that is followed consistentlythe ritual of the law
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- of, relating to, or characteristic of religious, social, or other rituals
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin rītuālis, from rītus rite
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for ritual
adj.
1560s, from Middle French ritual or directly from Latin ritualis "relating to (religious) rites," from ritus "rite" (see rite). Related: Ritually.
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nj.
1640s, from ritual (adj.).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
ritual
(rĭch′ōō-əl)- A detailed act or series of acts carried out by an individual to relieve anxiety or to forestall the development of anxiety.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.