RITUAL

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does ritual mean? 

• RITUAL (noun)
  The noun RITUAL has 3 senses:

1. any customary observance or practice

2. the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies

3. stereotyped behavior

  Familiarity information: RITUAL used as a noun is uncommon.

• RITUAL (adjective)
  The adjective RITUAL has 2 senses:

1. of or relating to or characteristic of religious rituals

2. of or relating to or employed in social rites or rituals

  Familiarity information: RITUAL used as an adjective is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RITUAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Any customary observance or practice

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

rite; ritual

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

custom; usage; usance (accepted or habitual practice)

Meronyms (parts of "ritual"):

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

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

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)

ritualize (make or evolve into a ritual)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

pattern; practice (a customary way of operation or behavior)

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

ablution (the ritual washing of a priest's hands or of sacred vessels)

celebration; solemnisation; solemnization (the public performance of a sacrament or solemn ceremony with all appropriate ritual)

Communion; Holy Communion; manduction; sacramental manduction (the act of participating in the celebration of the Eucharist)

Derivation:

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

ritualize (make or evolve into a ritual)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Stereotyped behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

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

habit; use ((psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition)

Derivation:

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

• RITUAL (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Of or relating to or characteristic of religious rituals

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

ritual killing

Pertainym:

religious rite (an established ceremony prescribed by a religion)

Derivation:

rite (an established ceremony prescribed by a religion)

ritual (the prescribed procedure for conducting religious ceremonies)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Of or relating to or employed in social rites or rituals

Classified under:

Relational adjectives (pertainyms)

Context example:

sedate little colonial tribe with its ritual tea parties

Pertainym:

rite (any customary observance or practice)

Derivation:

rite (any customary observance or practice)

ritual (stereotyped behavior)

ritual (any customary observance or practice)

 Context examples 

“We also know that, historically, these plants were used in shamanic rituals and witchcraft, both in Mexico and Europe”, adds Dr. Paloma Cariñanos of the UGR.

(Scientists examine the ethnobotanical uses of stramonium, University of Granada)

OCD is characterised by unwanted intrusive thoughts and repetitive rituals and causes pronounced impairment in everyday life.

(Deep brain stimulation may significantly improve OCD symptoms, University of Cambridge)

To try to control the thoughts, you feel an overwhelming urge to repeat certain rituals or behaviors.

(Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, NIH: National Institute of Mental Health)

‘It is rather an absurd business, this ritual of ours,’ he answered. ‘But it has at least the saving grace of antiquity to excuse it.’

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

In both cases, the sites were used for ritual and funerary purposes for over a thousand years.

(Analysis of the Palaeolithic diet finds that, in the prehistoric age, for thousands of years there were no social divisions in food consumption, University of Granada)

The dyeing of the corpse’s hair must have been one of the most significant parts of the ritual.

(Hair was dyed for first time as part of funeral rituals, University of Granada)

This has allowed to discover that the necropolis was used for funerary rituals thoughout the Copper and Bronze ages, about 2,000 years, a thousand more than what was previously thought.

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

An international team of scientists report ancient Egyptians captured sacred ibises (Threskiornis aethiopicus) from the wild for use in ritual sacrifice rather than domesticating the birds.

(Ancient Egyptians collected wild ibis birds for sacrifice, says study, Wikinews)

“So you see our savage friend was very orthodox in his ritual. It is grotesque, Watson,” Holmes added, as he slowly fastened his notebook, “but, as I have had occasion to remark, there is but one step from the grotesque to the horrible.”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

What is important about it is that it demonstrates the statue locations themselves are not a weird ritual place – the ahu and moai represent ritual in a sense of there is symbolic meaning to them, but they are integrated into the lives of the community," said study co-author Professor Carl Lipo of Binghamton University.

(Scientists report correlation between locations of Easter Island statues and water resources, Wikinews)