[syn: Kabbalah, Kabbala, Kabala, Cabbalah, Cabbala, Cabala, Qabbalah, Qabbala]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:
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.
[1913 Webster]
2. Secret science in general; mystic art; mystery.
[1913 Webster]
WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):
cabala
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]
Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:
37 Moby Thesaurus words for "cabala":
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