an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite.
a system or collection of religious or other rites.
observance of set forms in public worship.
a book of rites or ceremonies.
a book containing the offices to be used by priests in administering the sacraments and for visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, etc.
a prescribed or established rite, ceremony, proceeding, or service: the ritual of the dead.
prescribed, established, or ceremonial acts or features collectively, as in religious services.
any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner.
a prescribed code of behavior regulating social conduct, as that exemplified by the raising of one's hat or the shaking of hands in greeting.
Psychiatry. a specific act, as hand-washing, performed repetitively to a pathological degree, occurring as a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive neurosis.
adjective
of the nature of or practiced as a rite or ritual: a ritual dance.
of or relating to rites or ritual: ritual laws.
Origin of ritual
1560–70; <Latin rītuālis, equivalent to rītu-, stem of rītusrite + -ālis-al1
Scans hint at Egyptian ritual in the snake, which had rock structures in its open mouth, possibly the mineral natron used by ancient Egyptians to slow decomposition.
X-rays reveal what ancient animal mummies keep under wraps|Helen Thompson|August 20, 2020|Science News
Another viewing feels fitting, like the conclusion to a ritual.
The first murder|Katie McLean|August 19, 2020|MIT Technology Review
Many people, for instance, are turning to their immediate family members to fill that ritual void.
Why do we miss the rituals put on hold by the COVID-19 pandemic?|Sujata Gupta|August 14, 2020|Science News
A connection may have existed between human sacrificial ceremonies that were intended to appease Inca deities and events held at Lake Titicaca, including the submerging of ritual offerings, the researchers suggest.
A submerged Inca offering hints at Lake Titicaca’s sacred role|Bruce Bower|August 3, 2020|Science News
Ancient Americans ventured deep into caves along a stretch of Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula to mine a red pigment that could have had both practical and ritual uses, researchers say.
Underwater caves once hosted the Americas’ oldest known ochre mines|Bruce Bower|July 3, 2020|Science News
The family was taking some private moments for a closing of the coffin in keeping with Chinese ritual.
Funeral Protest Is Too Much for NYPD Union Boss|Michael Daly|January 5, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What ritual did some celebrities start engaging in over the summer?
Michael Tomasky’s Year-End Quiz: Test Your 2014 News Knowledge|Michael Tomasky|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Followers had traveled many miles to mourn the loss, and aid in the ritual washing, dressing, and honoring of the body.
Jail Threats for Sierra Leone Ebola Victims’ Families|Abby Haglage|December 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Wicca includes ceremony and ritual that serves the union of the divine with nature rather than embracing a personal god.
‘Gods of Suburbia’: Dina Goldstein’s Arresting Photo Series on Religion vs. Consumerism|Dina Goldstein|November 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Ghusul is a ritual cleansing from head to toe, in this instance performed with all the solemnity of a trip to a water park.
ISIS Has a Bigger Coalition Than We Do|Michael Daly|October 15, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The precepts, the ritual, the rewards, and the punishments all have reference to the present life.
The Supernatural Claims Of Christianity Tried By Two Of Its Own Rules|Lionel Lisle
No ritual in any religion was worse than this new worship of the State.
Waiting for Daylight|Henry Major Tomlinson
(e) The Ritual texts have survived only in copies not earlier than the New Kingdom.