Adjacent Words

Cabala definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CABALA, [See the preceding word. It is from the sense of reception.] Tradition, or a mysterious kind of science among Jewish Rabbins, pretended to have been delivered to the ancient Jews by revelation, and transmitted by oral tradition; serving for the interpretation of difficult passages of scripture. This science consists chiefly in understanding the combination of certain letters, words and numbers, which are alleged to be significant. Every letter, word, number and accent of the law is supposed to contain a mystery, and the cabalists pretend even to foretell future events by the study of this science.
CABAL, v.i. To unite in a small party to promote private views by intrigue; to intrigue; to unite in secret artifices to effect some design.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an esoteric or occult matter resembling the Kabbalah that is traditionally secret [syn: cabala, cabbala, cabbalah, kabala, kabbala, kabbalah, qabala, qabalah]
2: an esoteric theosophy of rabbinical origin based on the Hebrew scriptures and developed between the 7th and 18th centuries [syn: Kabbalah, Kabbala, Kabala, Cabbalah, Cabbala, Cabala, Qabbalah, Qabbala]

Merriam Webster's

or cabbala or cabbalah variant of kabbalah

Oxford Reference Dictionary

var. of CABBALA.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Cabala Cab"a*la (k[a^]b"[.a]*l[.a]), n. [LL. See Cabal, n.] 1. A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain medi[ae]val Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumes that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The cabalists pretend even to foretell events by this means. 2. Secret science in general; mystic art; mystery.

Moby Thesaurus

anagoge, anagogics, anthroposophy, arcanum, cabalism, classified information, confidence, confidential communication, enigma, esoterica, esotericism, esoterics, esoterism, esotery, guarded secret, hermetics, hocus-pocus, mumbo jumbo, mystery, mystery of mysteries, mysticism, mystification, occultism, personal matter, private matter, privileged communication, privity, profound secret, restricted information, sealed book, secret, symbolics, symbolism, the occult, yoga, yogeeism, yogism