cult

C1 Topic:People & Society

US /kʌlt/ See IPA manual

Freq #6470

Meanings

1

noun
A religious group with extreme or unusual beliefs whose members are intensely devoted to a leader.

Two former members described how hard it was to leave the cult.
2

noun
A group of people with an intense, often obsessive admiration for someone or something.

The film has built a cult of devoted fans over the years.
3

adj
Admired by a small but very loyal group of fans.

The movie flopped at first but became a cult classic.

Thesaurus

Word family

Forms cults

Derived forms anticultcultbustercultdomcultheadcultic cultishcultishlycultishnesscultismcultistcultlikecultship

Related forms sect

Etymology

Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).

*kʷel- Proto-Indo-European culte French cultus Latin

View etymology graph ->

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# cult

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /kʌlt/
**Frequency rank:** 6470

## Meanings
1. A religious group with extreme or unusual beliefs whose members are intensely devoted to a leader.
2. A group of people with an intense, often obsessive admiration for someone or something.
3. Admired by a small but very loyal group of fans.

## Examples
- Two former members described how hard it was to leave the cult.
- The film has built a cult of devoted fans over the years.
- The movie flopped at first but became a cult classic.

## Derived Forms
- anticult
- cultbuster
- cultdom
- culthead
- cultic
- cultish
- cultishly
- cultishness
- cultism
- cultist
- cultlike
- cultship

## Related Forms
- sect

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *kʷel-
- Root: culte
- Root: cultus

## Etymology
Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).

## AI Etymology
Cult is derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”). The historical chain includes *kʷel- (Proto-Indo-European), culte (French), and cultus (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as anticult, cultbuster, cultdom, and culthead and related forms such as sect. In present use it covers a religious group with extreme or unusual beliefs whose members are intensely devoted to a leader, a group of people with an intense, often obsessive admiration for someone or something, and admired by a small but very loyal group of fans.

## Topics
- People & Society

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cult

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