Relating to or characteristic of a cult, especially in the context of religious practices, rituals, or devotional systems.
From Latin 'cultus' (worship, ritual) plus English '-ic' suffix. Developed in the 19th-20th centuries as scholars needed an adjective to describe cult-related phenomena in religious studies.
The word 'cultic' lets us describe the *style* and *methods* of cults—it's clinically useful for scholars studying why certain groups adopt specific ritual patterns and hierarchies!
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