[kuhlt] 
| 1. | a particular system of religious worship, esp. with reference to its rites and ceremonies. |
| 2. | an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, esp. as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult. |
| 3. | the object of such devotion. |
| 4. | a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc. |
| 5. | Sociology. a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols. |
| 6. | a religion or sect considered to be false, unorthodox, or extremist, with members often living outside of conventional society under the direction of a charismatic leader. |
| 7. | the members of such a religion or sect. |
| 8. | any system for treating human sickness that originated by a person usually claiming to have sole insight into the nature of disease, and that employs methods regarded as unorthodox or unscientific. |
| 9. | of or pertaining to a cult. |
| 10. | of, for, or attracting a small group of devotees: a cult movie. |
[kuhl-choo-uhl] , adjective | cult (kŭlt) n.
[Latin cultus, worship, from past participle of colere, to cultivate; see kwel-1 in Indo-European roots.] cul'tic, cult'ish adj., cult'ism n., cult'ist n. |
In anthropology, an organization for the conduct of ritual, magical, or other religious observances. Many so-called primitive tribes, for example, have ancestor cults, in which dead ancestors are considered divine and activities are organized to respect their memory and invoke their aid. A cult is also a religious group held together by a dominant, often charismatic individual, or by the worship of a divinity, an idol, or some other object. (See animism, fetish, and totemism.)
Note: The term cult often suggests extreme beliefs and bizarre behavior.
