Cabbalistic

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Involving a mystical tradition within Judaism that examines divine characteristics
2. Pertaining to the secret and mystical teachings derived from ancient Jewish tradition and their interpretation of divine mysteries
3. Connected with hidden spiritual insights and esoteric practices rooted in Jewish mysticism

Etymology: "Cabbalistic" is an alternative spelling of "cabalistic," and the word traces back to the Hebrew term "qabbalah," meaning "received tradition." The Jewish mystical system it describes, the Kabbalah, was concerned with the hidden meaning of scripture and the nature of God's attributes, which is why the adjective came to mean "mysterious" or "secret" in a more general sense. The adjective is built from "cabalist" plus the suffix "-ic," or alternatively from "cabal" plus "-istic," with the two routes meeting in the same sense. The English form is a rather different thing from its Hebrew source. "Cabal" in its original English sense referred to a group of conspirators, and the mystical associations of "cabalist" partly merged with that secretive, plotting sense over time. So a word rooted in a religious tradition of received wisdom acquired connotations of hidden scheming.

Synonyms: mystical, esoteric, occult