The terms rite and ritual are often used synonymously, both in daily speech and in the specialized language of religious studies, leading to a lack of clarity. “Rite” is etymologically related to Sanskrit ṛta, “right, order, truth, custom,” and may thus be regarded as the “smallest” building block of a ritual, which can be defined as a complex series of actions in a (logical) functional relati…
Cite this page
Hutter, Manfred,
Stausberg, Michael,
Schwemer, Daniel,
Gertz, Jan Christian,
Hollender, Elisabeth,
Betz, Hans Dieter,
Kranemann, Benedikt,
Kaczynski, Reiner and
Preul, Reiner,
“Rite and Ritual”, in:
Religion Past and Present.
Consulted online on 06 December 2023 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_COM_024643>
First published online: 2011
First print edition: ISBN: 9789004146662, 2006-2013