CULT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does cult mean? 

• CULT (noun)
  The noun CULT has 5 senses:

1. followers of an exclusive system of beliefs and practices

2. an interest followed with exaggerated zeal

3. followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader

4. a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false

5. a system of religious beliefs and rituals

  Familiarity information: CULT used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CULT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Followers of an exclusive system of beliefs and practices

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("cult" is a kind of...):

faith; organized religion; religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

Meronyms (members of "cult"):

cultist (a member of a religious cult)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cult"):

macumba ((Brazil) followers of a religious cult of African origin)

obeah; obi ((West Indies) followers of a religious system involving witchcraft and sorcery)

Rastafarian ((Ethiopia) adherents of an African religion that regards Ras Tafari as divine)

voodoo ((Haiti) followers of a religion that involves witchcraft and animistic deities)

Rastafari; Rastas ((Jamaica) a Black youth subculture and religious movement that arose in the ghettos of Kingston, Jamaica, in the 1950s; males grow hair in long dreadlocks and wear woolen caps; use marijuana and listen to reggae music)

Wicca (a community of followers of the Wicca religion)

Derivation:

cultist (a member of a religious cult)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An interest followed with exaggerated zeal

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

craze; cult; fad; furor; furore; rage

Context example:

it was all the rage that season

Hypernyms ("cult" is a kind of...):

fashion (the latest and most admired style in clothes and cosmetics and behavior)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Followers of an unorthodox, extremist, or false religion or sect who often live outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader

Classified under:

Nouns denoting groupings of people or objects

Hypernyms ("cult" is a kind of...):

faith; organized religion; religion (an institution to express belief in a divine power)

Meronyms (members of "cult"):

cultist (a member of an unorthodox cult who generally lives outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cult"):

cargo cult ((Melanesia) the followers of one of several millenarian cults that believe salvation will come in the form of wealth ('cargo') brought by westerners; some ascribe divine attributes to westerners on first contact (especially to missionaries))

Derivation:

cultist (a member of an unorthodox cult who generally lives outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Context example:

it was a satanic cult

Hypernyms ("cult" is a kind of...):

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Derivation:

cultist (a member of an unorthodox cult who generally lives outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader)

Sense 5

Meaning:

A system of religious beliefs and rituals

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

cult; cultus; religious cult

Context example:

devoted to the cultus of the Blessed Virgin

Hypernyms ("cult" is a kind of...):

faith; religion; religious belief (a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "cult"):

cargo cult (a religious cult that anticipates a time of joy, serenity, and justice when salvation comes)

macumba (a Brazilian religious cult of African origin; combines voodoo elements with singing and chanting and dancing)

obeah; obi (a religious belief of African origin involving witchcraft and sorcery; practiced in parts of the West Indies and tropical Americas)

Rastafarianism (a religious cult based on a belief that Ras Tafari (Haile Selassie) is the Messiah and that Africa (especially Ethiopia) is the Promised Land)

hoodooism; vodoun; voodoo; voodooism (a religious cult practiced chiefly in Caribbean countries (especially Haiti); involves witchcraft and animistic deities)

Derivation:

cultist (a member of a religious cult)

 Context examples 

The study has emphasized that the use of large megalithic funerary structures shows, for the first time, the desire of human societies of transcending their present by creating a sacred landscape based on collective memory and the cult of ancestors.

(The necropolis of El Barranquete in Níjar (Almería), proven to have been used for funerary rituals throughout the Bronze Age, University of Granada)