ritualization

[ rich-oo-uh-luh-zey-shuhn ]

noun

1. the act of ritualizing.
2. Ethology. the alteration of a behavior pattern, as by a change in intensity, in a way that increases its effectiveness as a signal to other members of the species.

Word History and Origins

Origin of ritualization¹

First recorded in 1930–35; ritualize + -ation

Example Sentences

There’s all this science and ritualization that goes into it that I found really helpful.

From New York Times

Ritualization may have helped human cultures maintain behaviors that people thought would keep them safe, even after the initial reason for a behavior was forgotten, according to the authors of a number of recent research papers published in a special issue of the journal Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B.

From National Geographic

Demographic research done by Florence Pasche Guignard — which was reported in her 2015 article "A Gendered Bun in the Oven. The Gender-reveal Party as a New Ritualization during Pregnancy" — shows that "most gender-reveal parties are done by expecting parents that are middle-class, heterosexual white Americans who are married or partnered."

From Salon

"This pattern is repeated from the Magdalenian sites of Gough’s Cave to the Bronze Age site of El Mirador Cave, providing further evidence of the preparation of the skulls for their possible ritualization. Intensive tissue removal can be an indicator of human cannibalism in a ritual context."

From Fox News

Terence McKiernan, president of the watchdog group BishopAccountability.org, said the ritualization of abuse was a fundamental part of how children were sexually exploited.

From Seattle Times