Cult

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Cult \Cult\ (k[u^]lt) n. [F. culte, L. cultus care, culture, fr.
     colere to cultivate. Cf. {Cultus}.]
     1. Attentive care; homage; worship.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Every one is convinced of the reality of a better


              self, and of the cult or homage which is due to it.
                                                    --Shaftesbury.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A system of religious belief and worship.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              That which was the religion of Moses is the
              ceremonial or cult of the religion of Christ.
                                                    --Coleridge.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A system of intense religious veneration of a particular
        person, idea, or object, especially one considered
        spurious or irrational by traditional religious bodies;
        as, the Moonie cult.
        [PJC]
  
     4. The group of individuals who adhere to a cult (senses 2 or
        3).
        [PJC]
  
     5. A strong devotion or interest in a particular person, idea
        or thing without religious associations, or the people
        holding such an interest; as, the cult of James Dean; the
        cult of personality in totalitarian societies.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  cult
       n 1: adherents of an exclusive system of religious beliefs and
            practices
       2: an interest followed with exaggerated zeal; "he always
          follows the latest fads"; "it was all the rage that
          season" [syn: {fad}, {craze}, {furor}, {furore}, {rage}]
       3: a system of religious beliefs and rituals; "devoted to the
          cultus of the Blessed Virgin" [syn: {cultus}, {religious
          cult}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  58 Moby Thesaurus words for "cult":
     Sabbatarianism, Weltanschauung, adoration, articles of religion,
     catechism, celebration, ceremonialism, church, co-worship,
     communion, connection, credenda, credo, creed, cultism, cultus,
     denomination, devotion, doctrinal statement, dulia, faith,
     formalism, formulated belief, gospel, homage, hyperdulia, ideology,
     idolatry, ism, latria, liturgics, liturgiology, liturgism,
     mystique, persuasion, political faith, political philosophy,
     prostration, religion, reverence, ritualism, rituality,
     ritualization, sabbatism, sacramentalism, sacramentarianism,
     school, sect, solemn observance, solemnization, symbolics,
     symbolism, system of belief, transcendent wonder, veneration,
     world view, worship, worshiping