rite
/raɪt/
noun
Origin
Latin
ritus — religious usage, ceremony, custom
Overview
Meaning Now
- A religious or other solemn ceremony or act.
- A social custom, practice, or conventional act.
Literal older meaning
a ceremony prescribed by religious custom
Language path
Proto-Indo-European → Latin → Old French → Middle English → English
Earliest form
rite
Earliest period
15th century
Journey
The term stems from the Latin concept of 'ritus', which implied a strictly prescribed set of actions. In ancient Rome, the failure to perform a rite exactly as specified was believed to invalidate the entire religious service, a concept that persisted in ecclesiastical Latin and eventually passed into English through French.
Evolution
- Proto-Indo-European
*h₂er-
“to fit together”
Base of words relating to order and religious observance.
- Latin
ritus
“solemn ceremony”
- Old French
rit
“religious rite”
- Middle English
rite
“a ceremony”
First recorded in the 15th century.
Connections
Word parts
rit-
root
ceremony, usage
-e
ending
nominalization marker
Related across languages
Latin
ritus
ceremony
French
rite
Explore next
Related to rite
External references use DefinedTerm semantics.