Religious or social groups with extreme or unusual beliefs, often characterized by devotion to a particular figure or object. Groups with excessive admiration for something.
From Latin 'cultus' meaning 'care', 'cultivation', or 'worship', from 'colere' meaning 'to cultivate' or 'to inhabit'. Originally neutral, the term acquired negative connotations in the 20th century.
The word 'cult' originally just meant 'cultivation' - the same root gives us 'culture', 'agriculture', and 'cultivate'. The negative meaning developed only recently as society became wary of groups that seemed to 'cultivate' excessive devotion, showing how the same human tendency toward dedication can be viewed as either admirable culture or dangerous cult.
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