ABSP - Religious Rites

Religious Rites and Services

Words

aarti arti	a ceremony in which candles dipped in ghee are lighted and offered to various deities.
absolution	remission of sins, declared officially by a priest.
affusion	a pouring on, as of baptismal water.
agape	a love feast practiced by early Christians in connection with the Last Supper; Christian love > AGAPAE, AGAPAI, AGAPES.
agapeic	relating to AGAPE, Christian love.
anele	to anoint with extreme unction.
anoint	to apply oil to as a sacred rite.
arti	see AARTI.
assoilment	absolution.
baptise baptize	to administer baptism to.
baptism	immersion in water as a religious ceremony.
baptismal	relating to BAPTISM > BAPTISMALLY.
baptize	see BAPTISE.
beatify	to make blessed or supremely happy.
bris briss brith	a Jewish circumcision rite.
careme	Lent.
carritch	(Scots) a CATECHISM.
catechesis	primary oral instruction, as that given to CATECHUMENS > CATECHESES.
catechetic catechetical	relating to CATECHISM.
catechise catechize	to instruct in the CATECHISM.
catechiser catechizer	one who CATECHIZES.
catechism	a form of instruction by means of questions and answers.
catechize	see CATECHISE.
catechumen	one undergoing instruction prior to conversion to Christianity.
cense	to perfume with the odour of burning incense; to worship or honour with burning incense.
cheder heder	in Judaism, a religious lesson, or the place where it is held.
childermas	Holy Innocents Day, Dec. 28 > CHILDERMASES.
chrismation	the sacrament of baptism in Eastern churches.
christen	to BAPTISE in the name of Christ.
churching	a church ceremony given to women after childbirth.
complin compline	in the Christian liturgy, the seventh and last service of the day, at 9pm, completing the set hours for prayer.
confessional	the practice of confession.
conventicle	an assembly for religious worship, esp. a secret meeting for worship not sanctioned by law; (verb) to hold such an assembly.
corybantic	relating to CORYBANTISM, wildly excited.
corybantism	the rites of Cybele, which were accompanied with noisy music and wild dances.
cultus	a religious ritual; a cult > CULTI or CULTUSES.
devotional	a short worship service.
disanoint	to invalidate the consecration of; as, to disanoint a king.
disple	to discipline, chastise.
doseh	a religious ceremony at Cairo (abolished 1884), during the festival of the Prophet's birth, when the sheikh of the Sa'di dervishes rode on horseback over the prostrate bodies of his followers.
eucharistic	relating to the Eucharist.
evensong	an Anglican service held in the afternoon or evening.
examen	an examination; an inquiry, esp. a formal examination of the soul or conscience.
exorcise exorcize	to free of an evil spirit.
feria	a weekday of the church calendar on which no feast is celebrated > FERIAE or FERIAS.
ferial	pertaining to holidays.
fiesta	in Spain or Spanish America: a religious festival; gen. any festivity or holiday.
gongyo	a Buddhist ceremony > GONGYOS.
gradual	happening by degrees > GRADUALLY; (noun) the part of mass between epistle and gospel > GRADUALS.
haj hadj hajj	a Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca > HAJES, HAJJES, HAJJES.
halal hallal	to slaughter according to Muslim law > HALALS, HALALLING, HALALLED; HALLALS, HALLALLING, HALLALLED.
holyday	a religious festival.
holytide	a time of religious observance.
housel	the Eucharist; the act of taking or administering; (verb) to administer the Eucharist > HOUSELS, HOUSELING or HOUSELLING, HOUSELED or HOUSELLED.
housling	sacramental.
ibadah	in Islam, service, worship > IBADAT.
iftar	a meal eaten by Muslims to break their fast after sunset during Ramadan.
indulgence	a former Catholic pardon granted for remission of punishment for sins; (verb) to grant an indulgence > INDULGENCES, INDULGENCING, INDULGENCED.
intinction	a mode of administering communion by dipping bread into wine.
jhatka	the slaughter of animals for food in accordance with Sikh law.
kasher	to make kosher. [Hebrew kasher, fitness].
keblah kibla kiblah qibla	(the direction of) the place to which Muslims must turn for prayer, now the Kaaba at Mecca.
kirking	the first attendance of a couple at church after marriage.
koan	a nonsensical question given to Buddhist students for contemplation.
kosher	permissible to eat under Jewish law; (verb) to make kosher. [Hebrew kasher, fitness].
laetare	the fourth Sunday in Lent.
lavabo	a ceremony in which a priest washes his hands; a basin for the ceremony > LAVABOES or LAVABOS.
lectisternium	an ancient Greek/Roman religious rite in which the images of gods were placed on couches and food spread before them > LECTISTERNIA.
lustral	of or pertaining to, or used for, purification; as, lustral days; lustral water.
lustrate	to purify by sacrifice.
lustration	ritual washing; ablution.
lustrative	tending to LUSTRATE.
maigre	in the Roman Catholic church, not containing meat or its juices, thus permissible on days of abstinence; (noun) a day on which abstinence is enjoined > MAIGRES.
martyrise martyrize	to offer as a sacrifice; to cause to suffer martyrdom.
matsuri	a Shinto festival or public ceremony held at a shrine > MATSURIS.
matin mattin	a morning prayer service.
maundy	the religious ceremony of washing the feet of the poor, in commemoration of Christ's washing the disciples' feet (John 13), formerly practised by some monarchs.
meagre	scanty > MEAGRER, MEAGREST; MEAGRELY; (noun) the MAIGRE, in the Roman Catholic church, a day on which abstinence is enjoined > MEAGRES.
missa	the service or sacrifice of the Mass > MISSAE.
molochise molochize	to sacrifice (as to Moloch).
mondo	a rapid question and answer technique employed in Zen Buddhism > MONDOS.
nachtmaal nagmaal	a Dutch Reformed Church Sacrament, the Lord's Supper. [Afk. nagmaal (Du. nachtmaal), f. nag (Du. nacht) night + maal meal].
nipter	an ecclesiastical ceremony of washing the feet. [Gk. nipter, basin].
nocturn	any one of the three sections of the service of Matins.
noint	to anoint.
novena	a series of Catholic church services held on nine successive days > NOVENAE or NOVENAS.
obit	a religious office for a dead person.
obital	relating to an OBIT, a religious office for a dead person.
oblation	an act of offering; a sacrifice.
oblational	relating to OBLATION, the act of offering.
oblatory	relating to OBLATION.
offertory	the part of the Eucharist, usu. following the readings and the Creed, during which the bread and wine are placed on the altar and any collection is taken.
oint	to anoint.
orthopraxis	correct practice in religion > ORTHOPRAXES.
orthros	one of the Greek canonical hours > ORTHROSES.
panegyry	a great assembly; a religious festival.
panification	transformation into bread.
parasceve	among the Jews, the evening before the Sabbath.
passover	a Jewish festival.
penance	an act of humiliation or punishment, either undertaken voluntarily or imposed by a priest to express or show evidence of sorrow for sin; (verb) to impose penance on.
pericopal pericopic	relating to a PERICOPE, an excerpt or passage read during religious services.
pericope	an extract or passage, esp one selected for reading in church > PERICOPAE or PERICOPES.
piacular	expiatory, e.g. 'Dogs were also favourite piacular victims, as in the Lupercalia'.
pilgrimage	the journeying of a pilgrim; a journey to a shrine or other holy place, or to a place venerated for its associations.
pilgrimise pilgrimize	to go on pilgrimage.
pooja poojah puja pujah	a Hindu act of worship or prayer.
porge	in Jewish ritual, to cleanse a slaughtered animal by removing the forbidden parts.
preachify	to discourse in the manner of a preacher.
preachment	a religious harangue; a sermon.
proper	a service, psalm set apart for a particular day or occasion > PROPERS; (adj.) fitting > PROPERER, PROPEREST; PROPERLY.
puja pujah	see POOJA.
pulpitry	the teaching of the pulpit; preaching.
qibla	see KIBLA.
rebaptise rebaptize	to baptize again or a second time.
rebaptism	a second baptism.
sabbat sabath	a witches' midnight meeting.
sabbatise sabbatize	to observe as a Sabbath.
sabbatism	intermission of labor, as upon the Sabbath.
sacralise sacralize	to make sacred.
sacrament	to bind by an oath or sacrament.
sacred	dedicated to or set apart for the worship of a deity > SACREDLY.
sacredness	the state of being SACRED.
sacring	the act or ritual of consecration; a sacring bell is a bell rung at moment of elevation of the Host.
sadhana	one of a number of spiritual practices or disciplines which lead to perfection, these being contemplation, asceticism, worship of a god, and correct living.
sain	to make the sign of the cross over.
salamon	the mass, as in the vagrants' inviolable oath 'by the salamon'.
sane	of sound mind > SANER, SANEST; SANELY; (verb) to bless.
scatophagy	the religious practice of eating excrement.
	the slaughtering of animals in accordance with rabbinical law. [Hebrew shehitah, slaughter].
sehri sohur suhur	a meal eaten before sunrise by those fasting during Ramadan.
sermon	a religious address esp. from a pulpit; (verb) to preach a sermon.
sermonet sermonette	a short SERMON.
sermonic sermonical	like, or appropriate to, a SERMON.
sext	the office of the sixth hour.
shabbatot	Jewish sabbaths. No singular: this should be capitalised but appears due to an error in Webster!
shechita	see SCHECHITA.
shechitah	see SCHECHITA.
shehita	see SCHECHITA.
shehitah	see SCHECHITA.
shibah shivah shiva	a period of seven days' mourning observed after a Jewish funeral.
shidduch	an arranged marriage > SHIDDUCHIM.
shiur	a lesson, esp. one in which a passage of the Talmud is studied together by a group of people > SHIURIM. [Hebrew shiur, measurement].
shiva	see SHIBAH.
shivah	see SHIBAH.
shloshim	the period of thirty days' deep mourning following a death > SHLOSHIMS. [Hebrew 'thirty (days)'].
shraddha sraddha sradha	an offering to the manes of an ancestor.
shrieve	to administer the sacrament of reconciliation to.
shrift	a prescribed penance; a confessional.
shrive	to administer the sacrament of reconciliation to > SHRIVES, SHRIVING, SHRIVED or SHROVE, SHRIVEN.
shrove	to celebrate Shrovetide > SHROVES, SHROVING, SHROVED.
sraddha	see SHRADDHA.
sradha	see SHRADDHA.
succos sukkos	a Jewish religious festival of thanksgiving. N.B. these are plural.
suovetaurilia	a Roman sacrifice of a sheep, pig or ox.
synaxis	in the early Church, meeting for worship, esp. the Eucharist > SYNAXES. [Gk. synaxis a bringing together, from syn together, and agein, to lead].
taurobolium	the sacrifice of a bull, as in the ancient Phrygian cult of Cybele > TAUROBOLIA.
tenebrae	matins and lauds of the following day sung on the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Holy Week - candles are extinguished one by one at the end of each psalm with the final psalm being sung in darkness. N.B. no TENEBRA*.
terce	a prayer service held at 9 a.m.
terefa terefah tref trefa trefah treif treifa	in Judaism, not ritually clean, not kosher.
theophagous	relating to THEOPHAGY, the sacramental consumption of a god.
theophagy	the sacramental consumption of a god.
thurify	to perfume with the odour of burning incense.
tref	see TEREFA.
trefa	see TEREFA.
trefah	see TEREFA.
treif	see TEREFA.
treifa	see TEREFA.
trental	a series of thirty requiem masses, or the payment for seeing them.
triduum	a period of three days of prayer preceding Roman Catholic feasts > TRIDUUMS (not TRIDUA*).
umra umrah	a lesser pilgrimage to Mecca made separately or at the same time as the hajj, and consisting of a number of devotional rituals performed within the city.
unaneled	without extreme unction.
unbaptise unbaptize	to undo the effects of baptism.
unchurch	to expel, or cause to separate, from a church; to excommunicate.
unction	anointing as right of consecration or healing.
unhouseled unhouzzled	not HOUSELED, i.e. not having received the Eucharist shortly before death.
unkosher	not KOSHER.
unaneled unnaneld	without extreme unction having been administered.
unshrived unshriven	not shriven.
utas	the seventh day after a festival > UTASES.
vesper	the sixth of the daytime canonical hours of prayer, orig. appointed for the early evening; the office appointed for this hour. [L. vesper, evening star, evening].
vespers	a prayer service held in early evening.
viaticum	Holy Communion administered to a dying person; travelling provisions or expenses > VIATICA or VIATICUMS.
worship	to revere > WORSHIPS, WORSHIPING or WORSHIPPING, WORSHIPED or WORSHIPPED.
wudu	in Islam, ritual washing before the daily prayer > WUDUS.
yahrzeit	an anniversary of the death of a family member observed by Jews.
yom	a Jewish day, esp in a religious context > YOMIM.
yule	christmas or Christmastide; the feast of the Nativity of our Savior.
yuletide	the Christmas season.
zazen	Zen meditation.

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