Dictionary  rit•u•alPronunciation: (rich'OO-ul), [key] —n. 1. an established or prescribed procedure for a religious or other rite. 2. a system or collection of religious or other rites. 3. observance of set forms in public worship. 4. a book of rites or ceremonies. 5. a book containing the offices to be used by priests in administering the sacraments and for visitation of the sick, burial of the dead, etc. 6. a prescribed or established rite, ceremony, proceeding, or service: the ritual of the dead. 7. prescribed, established, or ceremonial acts or features collectively, as in religious services. 8. any practice or pattern of behavior regularly performed in a set manner. 9. a prescribed code of behavior regulating social conduct, as that exemplified by the raising of one's hat or the shaking of hands in greeting. 10. Psychiatry.a specific act, as hand-washing, performed repetitively to a pathological degree, occurring as a common symptom of obsessive-compulsive neurosis. —adj. 1. of the nature of or practiced as a rite or ritual: a ritual dance. 2. of or pertaining to rites or ritual: ritual laws. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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