From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary EnglishRelated topics: Religionritualrit‧u‧al1 /ˈrɪtʃuəl/ ●○○ noun [countable, uncountable]1RRa ceremony that is always performed in the same way, in order to mark an important religious or social occasion → rite
ancient pagan rituals
the importance of religion and ritual in our lives
The lady of the house performs the sacred ritual of lighting two candles.2TRADITIONsomething that you do regularly and in the same way each time → routineritual of
the daily ritual of mealtimes
He went through the ritual of lighting his cigar.Examples from the Corpusritual• What used to be a real chase had become a ritual.• Set up a regular time for homework; make it a ritual.• traditionaldances and rituals• The cremation ritual was directed mainly at inducing the spirit of the dead person to go on to the afterworld.• Once this incorrectimpression is accepted and congealed, there is no commanding reason to disrupt the customaryrituals of their existence.• After an elaborateritual, the boys are formally accepted into the tribe.• The book examinesrituals for childbirth from different parts of the world.• After all, in a secular age when religious rituals have lost meaning for many, the grieving still need comfort.• That is the effect of the ritual.• As part of the ritual, everyone carries the kumquats to the table.• The ritual is performed in order to thank the SunGoddess for the riceharvest.• The Westernritual of death was observed - the obligation to remember the most dignifiedimage of the deceased.performs ... ritual• Throughout the day the grousedrums in the woods, and the woodcock performs its exuberant ritual at dawn and dusk.went through the ritual• Most of them went through the ritual of gazing about them with curious eyes in search of a familiar face among the crowds.ritualritual2 ●○○ adjective [only before noun]1TRADITIONdone as part of a rite or ritual
ritual dances2REAL/NOT FALSE OR ARTIFICIALdone in a fixed and expected way, but without real meaning or sincerity
The police issued the usual ritual apology. —ritually adverb
Animals are brought in and ritually slaughtered.Examples from the Corpusritual• ritualcampaignpromises• Prestige was allottedaccording to the principles of the ritualcycle.• ritualprayers• Tathir, the ritual purification of the social body, requires the destruction of the first and the confinement of the second.Originritual2(1500-1600)Latinritualis, from ritus; → RITE
