*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of cult

Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Unnumbered source etymology · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
adj

Of or relating to a cult. · Enjoyed by a small, loyal group. · Alternative form of kvlt.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*kʷel-ine-pro
  • Derivation mentioncultefr
  • Derivation mentioncultusla
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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    }
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      "colo#Latin"
    ]
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        "Of or relating to a cult.",
        "Enjoyed by a small, loyal group.",
        "Alternative form of kvlt."
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Unnumbered source etymology · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
noun

The veneration, devotion, and religious rites given to a deity (especially in a historical polytheistic context), or (in a Christian context) to a saint; a subset of worship. · A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing. · A group, sect or movement following an unorthodox religious or philosophical system of beliefs, especially one in which members remove and exclude themselves from greater society, including family members not part of the cult, and show extreme devotion to a charismatic leader.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Derived from French culte, from Latin cultus (“care, adoration; cult”), from colō (“cultivate; protect”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*kʷel-ine-pro
  • Derivation mentioncultefr
  • Derivation mentioncultusla
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  ],
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      "lang": "Welsh",
      "lang_code": "cy",
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        "A group of people having an obsession with or intense admiration for a particular activity, idea, person or thing.",
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for cult →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-Y3VsdA