RITE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does rite mean? 

• RITE (noun)
  The noun RITE has 2 senses:

1. an established ceremony prescribed by a religion

2. any customary observance or practice

  Familiarity information: RITE used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RITE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An established ceremony prescribed by a religion

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

religious rite; rite

Context example:

the rite of baptism

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

religious ceremony; religious ritual (a ceremony having religious meaning)

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

vigil; watch (the rite of staying awake for devotional purposes (especially on the eve of a religious festival))

last rites (rites performed in connection with a death or burial)

orgy (secret rite in the cults of ancient Greek or Roman deities involving singing and dancing and drinking and sexual activity)

circumcision (the act of circumcising performed on males eight days after birth as a Jewish and Muslim religious rite)

liturgy (a rite or body of rites prescribed for public worship)

office (a religious rite or service prescribed by ecclesiastical authorities)

Derivation:

ritual (of or relating to or characteristic of religious rituals)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Any customary observance or practice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

rite; ritual

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

custom; usage; usance (accepted or habitual practice)

Meronyms (parts of "rite"):

ceremonial dance; ritual dance; ritual dancing (a dance that is part of a religious ritual)

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

betrothal; espousal (the act of becoming betrothed or engaged)

marriage; marriage ceremony; wedding (the act of marrying; the nuptial ceremony)

rite of passage (a ritual performed in some cultures at times when an individual changes status (as from adolescence to adulthood))

Derivation:

ritual (of or relating to or employed in social rites or rituals)

 Context examples 

I should like something else: a little addition to the rite.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

In extreme cases these rites take the form of human sacrifices followed by cannibalism.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A series of acts performed for a special occasion or to mark a rite of passage.

(Ceremony, NCI Dictionary)

The disagreement subsisting between yourself and my late honoured father always gave me much uneasiness, and since I have had the misfortune to lose him, I have frequently wished to heal the breach; but for some time I was kept back by my own doubts, fearing lest it might seem disrespectful to his memory for me to be on good terms with anyone with whom it had always pleased him to be at variance.—'There, Mrs. Bennet.'—My mind, however, is now made up on the subject, for having received ordination at Easter, I have been so fortunate as to be distinguished by the patronage of the Right Honourable Lady Catherine de Bourgh, widow of Sir Lewis de Bourgh, whose bounty and beneficence has preferred me to the valuable rectory of this parish, where it shall be my earnest endeavour to demean myself with grateful respect towards her ladyship, and be ever ready to perform those rites and ceremonies which are instituted by the Church of England. As a clergyman, moreover, I feel it my duty to promote and establish the blessing of peace in all families within the reach of my influence; and on these grounds I flatter myself that my present overtures are highly commendable, and that the circumstance of my being next in the entail of Longbourn estate will be kindly overlooked on your side, and not lead you to reject the offered olive-branch. I cannot be otherwise than concerned at being the means of injuring your amiable daughters, and beg leave to apologise for it, as well as to assure you of my readiness to make them every possible amends—but of this hereafter. If you should have no objection to receive me into your house, I propose myself the satisfaction of waiting on you and your family, Monday, November 18th, by four o'clock, and shall probably trespass on your hospitality till the Saturday se'ennight following, which I can do without any inconvenience, as Lady Catherine is far from objecting to my occasional absence on a Sunday, provided that some other clergyman is engaged to do the duty of the day.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

I did not ask what she meant by "all being over," but I suppose she referred to the expected decease of her mother and the gloomy sequel of funeral rites.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)