1. A prescribed form of performing divine service in a particular church or communion; as, the Jewish ritual.
2. Hence, the code of ceremonies observed by an organization; as, the ritual of the freemasons.
3. A book containing the rites to be observed.
RITUALISM
Rit"u*al*ism, n. Etym: [Cf. F. ritualisme.]
1. A system founded upon a ritual or prescribed form of religious worship; adherence to, or observance of, a ritual.
2. Specifically :(a) The principles and practices of those in the Church of England, who in the development of the Oxford movement, so- called, have insisted upon a return to the use in church services of the symbolic ornaments (altar cloths, encharistic vestments, candles, etc.) that were sanctioned in the second year of Edward VI., and never, as they maintain, forbidden by competennt authority, although generally disused. Schaff-Herzog Encyc. (b) Also, the principles and practices of those in the Protestant Episcopal Church who sympathize with this party in the Church of England.
RITUALIST
Rit"u*al*ist, n. Etym: [CF. F. ritualiste.]
Defn: One skilled un, or attached to, a ritual; one who advocates or practices ritualism.
RITUALISTIC
Rit`u*al*is"tic, a.
Defn: Pertaining to, or in accordance with, a ritual; adhering to ritualism.