rite - Definitions from Dictionary.com

7 results for: rite

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

rite

–noun

1.	a formal or ceremonial act or procedure prescribed or customary in religious or other solemn use: rites of baptism; sacrificial rites.

2.	a particular form or system of religious or other ceremonial practice: the Roman rite.

3.	(often initial capital letter) one of the historical versions of the Eucharistic service: the Anglican Rite.

4.	(often initial capital letter) liturgy.

5.	(sometimes initial capital letter) Eastern Church, Western Church. a division or differentiation of churches according to liturgy.

6.	any customary observance or practice: the rite of afternoon tea.

[Origin: 1275–1325; ME (< OF rit(e)) < L rītus

]

—Related forms

riteless, adjective

rite·less·ness, noun

—Synonyms 1. observance, form, usage. See ceremony.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

rite Audio Help (rīt) Pronunciation Key
n.

The prescribed or customary form for conducting a religious or other solemn ceremony: the rite of baptism.
A ceremonial act or series of acts: fertility rites.
Rite The liturgy or practice of a branch of the Christian church.

[Middle English, from Latin rītus; see ar- in Indo-European roots.]

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rite

c.1315, from L. ritus "religious observance or ceremony, custom, usage," perhaps from PIE base *re(i)- "to count, number" (cf. Gk. arithmos "number," O.E. rim "number"). Rite of passage (1909) is transl. from Fr. rite de passage, coined by Fr. anthropologist Arnold van Gennep (1873–1957).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

rite
noun
1.	an established ceremony prescribed by a religion; "the rite of baptism"
2.	any customary observance or practice [syn: ritual]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
rite [rait] noun

a solemn ceremony, especially a religious one
Example: marriage rites

Arabic:	طَقْس، إحْتِفال
Chinese (Simplified):	宗教仪式
Chinese (Traditional):	宗教儀式
Czech:	obřad
Danish:	ceremoni; -ceremoni
Dutch:	rite
Estonian:	riitus
Finnish:	seremonia
French:	rite
German:	der Ritus
Greek:	τελετή, ιεροτελεστία
Hungarian:	szertartás
Icelandic:	helgiathöfn
Indonesian:	upacara
Italian:	rito

Japanese:	儀式
Korean:	의식, 예식
Latvian:	rituāls; ceremonija
Lithuanian:	apeigos, ritualas
Norwegian:	seremoni, rite
Polish:	obrządek
Portuguese (Brazil):	rito
Portuguese (Portugal):	rito
Romanian:	ritual
Russian:	обряд
Slovak:	obrad
Slovenian:	obred
Spanish:	rito
Swedish:	rit, ceremoni
Turkish:	âyin, tören

See also: ritual, "rite" in any language

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Rite

Rite\, n. [L. ritus; cf. Skr. r[=i]ti a stream, a running, way, manner, ri to flow: cf. F. rit, rite. CF. Rivulet.] The act of performing divine or solemn service, as established by law, precept, or custom; a formal act of religion or other solemn duty; a solemn observance; a ceremony; as, the rites of freemasonry.

He looked with indifference on rites, names, and forms of ecclesiastical polity. --Macaulay.

Syn: Form; ceremony; observance; ordinance.

Acronym Finder - Cite This Source - Share This

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