superstition

su·per·sti·tion

[soo-per-stish-uhn]
noun
1.
a belief or notion, not based on reason or knowledge, in or of the ominous significance of a particular thing, circumstance, occurrence, proceeding, or the like.
2.
a system or collection of such beliefs.
3.
a custom or act based on such a belief.
4.
irrational fear of what is unknown or mysterious, especially in connection with religion.
5.
any blindly accepted belief or notion.

Origin:
1375–1425; late Middle English < Latin superstitiōn- (stem of superstitiō), equivalent to superstit- (stem of superstes) standing beyond, outliving (super- super- + -stit-, combining form of stat-, adj. derivative of stāre to stand) + -iōn- -ion

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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00:10
Superstition is always a great word to know.
So is gobo. Does it mean:
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
superstition (ˌsuːpəˈstɪʃən) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
1.  irrational belief usually founded on ignorance or fear and characterized by obsessive reverence for omens, charms, etc
2.  a notion, act or ritual that derives from such belief
3.  any irrational belief, esp with regard to the unknown
 
[C15: from Latin superstitiō dread of the supernatural, from superstāre to stand still by something (as in amazement)]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Encyclopedia Britannica
Encyclopedia

superstition

belief, half-belief, or practice for which there appears to be no rational substance. Those who use the term imply that they have certain knowledge or superior evidence for their own scientific, philosophical, or religious convictions. An ambiguous word, it probably cannot be used except subjectively. With this qualification in mind, superstitions may be classified roughly as religious, cultural, and personal

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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