Main Entry: cult

Pronunciation: \ˈkəlt\

Function: noun

Usage: often attributive

Etymology: French & Latin; French culte, from Latin cultus care, adoration, from colere to cultivate — more at wheel

Date: 1617

1 : formal religious veneration : worship
2 : a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3 : a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious; also : its body of adherents
4 : a system for the cure of disease based on dogma set forth by its promulgator <health cults>
5 a : great devotion to a person, idea, object, movement, or work (as a film or book); especially : such devotion regarded as a literary or intellectual fad b : the object of such devotion c : a usually small group of people characterized by such devotion

— cul·tic \ˈkəl-tik\ adjective

— cult·ish \-tish\ adjective

— cult·ish·ly \-lē\ adverb

— cult·ish·ness \-nəs\ noun

— cult·ism \ˈkəl-ˌti-zəm\ noun

— cult·ist \ˈkəl-tist\ noun

— cult·like \-ˌlīk\ adjective