ritual

See also: Ritual and rituál

English

Alternative forms

• rituall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin rītuālis (adjective), from rītus (“rite”) +‎ -ālis. Displaced native Old English ġewuna and wuna.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American, Canada) IPA^(key): /ˈɹɪt͡ʃ.u.əl/

  • Audio (Southern California):

    (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 magic
• 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)
• Māori: 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 (that is, a service).

   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

• antiritual
• biritual
• humiliation ritual
• nonritual
• postritual
• ritualisation, ritualization
• ritualise, ritualize
• ritualist
• ritualistic
• rituality
• ritualless
• ritually
• unritual

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 (yula)
• 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 Greek: 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: жора (jora), жол-жора (kk) (jol-jora), салт жоралары pl (salt joraları)
• 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)
• Māori: 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

  Latin: 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. ritual

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 FMGJSH: Fjalor i madh i gjuhës shqipe (in Albanian), 2026
• Newmark, Leonard (1999), “ritual”, in Oxford Albanian-English Dictionary‎^[1], Oxford: Oxford University Press

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin rituālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Balearic, Central, Valencia, Northwestern) [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, 2026
• “ritual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• Alcover, Antoni Maria; Moll, Francesc de Borja (1963), “ritual”, in Diccionari català-valencià-balear (in Catalan)

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

Indonesian

Alternative forms

• rituil (superseded)

Etymology

Borrowed from English ritual, from Latin rītuālis (adjective), rītus (“rite”) +‎ -ālis. Displaced rituil.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /riˈtual/ [riˈt̪u.al]
• Rhymes: -al
• Syllabification: ri‧tu‧al

Adjective

ritual (comparative lebih ritual, superlative paling ritual)

1. ritual

Noun

ritual (plural ritual-ritual)

1. ritual, rite

Derived terms

• beritual

• ritual kelahiran
• ritual sanggring

Related terms

• ritus

Further reading

• “ritual”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Ladin

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

Etymology tree

Latin rītus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Late Latin rītuālislbor.

Portuguese ritual

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

Pronunciation

 

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

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

Further reading

• “ritual”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026
• “ritual”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French rituel or Italian rituale.

Noun

ritual n (plural rituali)

1. ritual

Declension

	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

Etymology tree

Latin rītus

Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-

Proto-Indo-European *-is

Proto-Indo-European *h₂élisder.?

Proto-Italic *-ālis

Latin -ālis

Latin rituālis

Spanish ritual

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 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025

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 [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• “ritual”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “ritual”, in Svenska Akademiens ordbok [Dictionary of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)