ritual

See also: Ritual and rituál

English

Alternative forms

• rituall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin rītuālis (adjective), from rītus (“rite”) +‎ -ālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.u.əl/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Hyphenation: ri‧tu‧al

Adjective

ritual (comparative more ritual, superlative most ritual)

1. Related to a rite or repeated set of actions.

   They performed the ritual lighting of the candles.

   • 2001, David L. Lieber, Jules Harlow, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, page 855:

     These verses are the basis for the practice of wearing a prayer shawl (tallit) with a ritual fringe (tzitzit) on each of its four corners

Derived terms

• bi-ritual
• ritual abuse
• ritually
• ritual servitude
• ritual Ten Commandments

Translations

related to a rite

Afrikaans: ritueel Armenian: ծիսական (hy) (cisakan) Bulgarian: ритуален (bg) (ritualen), церемониален (bg) (ceremonialen) Catalan: ritual (ca) m or f Chinese: Mandarin: 儀式 / 仪式 (zh) (yíshì) Czech: rituální (cs) Danish: rituel Finnish: rituaalinen French: rituel (fr) m Galician: ritual (gl) m or f Georgian: რიტუალური (riṭualuri) German: rituell (de) Hebrew: פֻּלְחָן (he) m Hindi: रीति (hi) f (rīti), अनुष्ठान (hi) m (anuṣṭhān), संस्कार (hi) m (sanskār) Hungarian: rituális (hu), szertartásos (hu), ünnepélyes (hu) Italian: rituale (it) Japanese: 儀式的 (ja) (ぎしきてき, gishikiteki) Latin: rītuālis Latvian: rituāls (lv) Maori: kawanga Norwegian: Bokmål: rituell Nynorsk: rituell Polish: rytualny (pl) m, obrzędowy (pl) m Portuguese: ritual (pt), ritualístico Russian: ритуа́льный (ru) (rituálʹnyj), обря́довый (ru) (obrjádovyj) Swedish: rituell (sv) Ukrainian: ритуа́льний (rytuálʹnyj), обрядо́вий (obrjadóvyj), обря́дний (obrjádnyj) Welsh: defodol (cy)

Noun

ritual (countable and uncountable, plural rituals)

1. A rite; a repeated set of actions, especially in religious contexts.

   The priests carried out the religious ritual carefully.

   • 2017, Christine Honders, OCD: The Struggle with Obsessions and Compulsions, page 44:

     Despite their good intentions, family members who participate in OCD rituals help reinforce the problem.

Derived terms

• ritualisation, ritualization
• ritualise, ritualize
• ritualist
• ritualistic
• ritually

Translations

repeated set of actions

Albanian: ritual (sq) m Arabic: شَعِيرَة f (šaʕīra), مَرَاسِم m (marāsim), طُقُوس m pl (ṭuqūs) Armenian: ծես (hy) (ces), արարողություն (araroġutʻyun) Azerbaijani: ayin (az), mərasim Bashkir: йола (yola) Belarusian: рытуа́л m (rytuál), абра́д m (abrád) Bengali: আচার (bn) (acar) Bulgarian: ритуа́л (bg) m (rituál), о́бред (bg) m (óbred) Burmese: အခမ်းအနား (my) (a.hkam:a.na:) Chinese: Mandarin: 儀式 / 仪式 (zh) (yíshì), 典禮 / 典礼 (zh) (diǎnlǐ) Czech: rituál (cs) m, obřad (cs) m Danish: ritual n Dutch: ritueel (nl) n Egyptian: (jrw) Esperanto: ritaro, ritualo Estonian: rituaal Finnish: rituaali (fi) French: rituel (fr) m Galician: ritual (gl) Georgian: რიტუალი (riṭuali) German: Ritual (de) n Greek: τελετουργικό (el) n (teletourgikó) Ancient: τελετή f (teletḗ) Hebrew: טֶקֶס (he) m (tékes) Hindi: अनुष्ठान (hi) m (anuṣṭhān) Hungarian: szertartás (hu), rítus (hu), rituálé (hu) Indonesian: ritual (id) Irish: deasghnáth m Italian: rituale (it) m Japanese: 儀式 (ja) (ぎしき, gishiki), 祭祀 (ja) (さいし, saishi) Kashubian: ritual m, obrząd m Kazakh: ырым (yrym), рәсім (kk) (räsım) Khmer: ពិធី (km) (pithii), វិធី (km) (vithii) Korean: 의식(儀式) (ko) (uisik), 의례(儀禮) (ko) (uirye), 제사(祭祀) (ko) (jesa) Kyrgyz: ырым (ky) (ırım) Lao: ພິທີ (phi thī), ພິທີກຳ (phi thī kam) Latin: ritus m, caerimōnia (la) f Latvian: rituāls (lv) m, rits (lv) m Lithuanian: ritualas m Macedonian: ритуа́л m (rituál), обред m (obred) Maori: whakaritenga, ritenga, kawanga Nepali: please add this translation if you can Norman: rituel m Norwegian: Bokmål: ritual n Nynorsk: ritual n Old English: ġewuna m Persian: آیین (fa) (âyin), مراسم (fa) (marâsem) Polish: rytuał (pl) m, obrządek (pl) m, obrzęd (pl) m Portuguese: ritual (pt) m, rito (pt) m Romanian: ritual (ro) n Russian: ритуа́л (ru) m (rituál), обря́д (ru) m (obrjád) Scots: reetual Scottish Gaelic: deas-ghnàth m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: о̀бред m, риту̀а̄л m Roman: òbred (sh) m, ritùāl (sh) m Sherpa: please add this translation if you can Slovak: rituál m, obrad m Slovene: ritual m, obred (sl) m Spanish: ritual (es) m Swedish: ritual (sv) c Tagalog: sulinaw Tajik: маросим (marosim), расм (tg) (rasm), оин (tg) (oyin) Thai: พิธี (th) (pí-tii), พิธีกรรม (th) (pí-tii-gam) Tibetan: please add this translation if you can Turkish: ayin (tr), ritüel (tr), merasim (tr) Ukrainian: ритуа́л m (rytuál), обря́д m (obrjád) Uzbek: marosim (uz) Vietnamese: lễ nghi (vi), nghi lễ (vi), nghi thức (vi) Welsh: defod (cy)

Anagrams

• litura

Albanian

Noun

ritual m

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

Declension

Declension of ritual

	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ritual	rituali	rituale	ritualet
accusative		ritualin
dative	rituali	ritualit	ritualeve	ritualeve
ablative			ritualesh

Further reading

• “ritual”, in FGJSH: Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe [Dictionary of the Albanian language] (in Albanian), 2006
• FGJSSH: Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe [Dictionary of the modern Albanian language]‎, 1980
• Newmark, L. (1999), “ritual”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rituālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic, Valencia) [ri.tuˈal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -al

Adjective

ritual m or f (masculine and feminine plural rituals)

1. ritual

Noun

ritual m (plural rituals)

1. ritual

Related terms

• ritu

Further reading

• “ritual”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], April 2007
• “ritual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
• “ritual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “ritual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Danish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˌʁituˈæˀl]

Noun

ritual n (singular definite ritualet, plural indefinite ritualer)

1. ritual

   Synonym: ritus

Declension

Declension of ritual

neuter gender	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	ritual	ritualet	ritualer	ritualerne
genitive	rituals	ritualets	ritualers	ritualernes

References

• “ritual” in Den Danske Ordbog

Ladin

Pronunciation

This entry needs pronunciation information. If you are familiar with the IPA then please add some!

Adjective

ritual m (feminine singular rituala, masculine plural rituai, feminine plural rituales)

1. ritual

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin ritualis, from ritus.

Noun

ritual n (definite singular ritualet, indefinite plural ritual or ritualer, definite plural rituala or ritualene)

1. ritual

References

• “ritual” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin ritualis, from ritus.

Noun

ritual n (definite singular ritualet, indefinite plural ritual, definite plural rituala)

1. ritual

References

• “ritual” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Portuguese

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin rītuālis. By surface analysis, rito +‎ -ual.

Pronunciation

 

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁi.tuˈaw/ [hi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ʁiˈtwaw/ [hiˈtwaʊ̯]

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ʁi.tuˈaw/ [hi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ʁiˈtwaw/ [hiˈtwaʊ̯]
  • (Rio de Janeiro) IPA^(key): /ʁi.tuˈaw/ [χi.tʊˈaʊ̯], (faster pronunciation) /ʁiˈtwaw/ [χiˈtwaʊ̯]

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁiˈtwal/ [ʁiˈtwaɫ]

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁiˈtwal/ [ʁiˈtwaɫ]
  • (Southern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ʁiˈtwa.li/

• Rhymes: (Portugal) -al, (Brazil) -aw
• Hyphenation: ri‧tu‧al

Adjective

ritual m or f (plural rituais)

1. ritual

Derived terms

• ritualidade
• ritualismo
• ritualmente

Noun

ritual m (plural rituais)

1. ritual

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French rituel or Italian rituale.

Noun

ritual n (plural rituali)

1. ritual

Declension

Declension of ritual

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	ritual	ritualul		rituali	ritualile
genitive-dative	ritual	ritualului		rituali	ritualilor
vocative	ritualule			ritualilor

Serbo-Croatian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ritǔaːl/
• Hyphenation: ri‧tu‧al

Noun

ritùāl m inan (Cyrillic spelling риту̀а̄л)

1. ritual

Declension

Declension of ritual

	singular	plural
nominative	ritùāl	rituali
genitive	rituála	rituala
dative	ritualu	ritualima
accusative	ritual	rituale
vocative	rituale	rituali
locative	ritualu	ritualima
instrumental	ritualom	ritualima

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin rituālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /riˈtwal/ [riˈt̪wal]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ri‧tual

Adjective

ritual m or f (masculine and feminine plural rituales)

1. ritual

Derived terms

• ritualidad
• ritualismo
• ritualista
• ritualmente

Noun

ritual m (plural rituales)

1. rite
2. ritual

Related terms

• rito

Further reading

• “ritual”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 10 December 2024

Swedish

Noun

ritual c or n

1. ritual (set of ceremonial actions, or set of actions more generally, like in English)

   den dagliga ritualen

   the daily ritual

Usage notes

Neuter gender is uncommon.

Declension

Declension of ritual

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ritual	rituals
	definite	ritualen	ritualens
plural	indefinite	ritualer	ritualers
	definite	ritualerna	ritualernas

Declension of ritual

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	ritual	rituals
	definite	ritualet	ritualets
plural	indefinite	ritual	rituals
	definite	ritualen	ritualens

Derived terms

• ritualenlig
• ritualhandling
• ritualisera
• ritualisering
• ritualism
• ritualist
• ritualistisk
• ritualmord
• ritualmässig
• ritualslakt

Related terms

• rit
• rituell

References

• ritual in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• ritual in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• ritual in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)