Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definitions: Cabal |
CabalNoun1. A clique that seeks power usually through intrigue. 2. A plot to carry out some harmful or illegal act (especially a political plot). Verb1. Engage in plotting or enter into a conspiracy, swear together; "They conspired to overthrow the government". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "cabal" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1657. (references) |
| Domain | Definitions |
Literature | Cabal A junto or council of intriguers. One of the Ministries of Charles II. was called a cabal (1670), because the initial letters of its members formed this acrostic: ~~~C Clifford, ~~~A Ashley, ~~~B Buckingham, ~~~A Arlington, and ~~~L Lauderdale. This accident may have popularised the word, but, without doubt, we borrowed it from the French cabale, "an intriguing faction," and Hebrew cabala, "secret knowledge." A junto is merely an assembly; Spanish, junta, a council. (See Notarica; Tammany Ring .) "In dark cabals and mighty juntos met." Thomson. "These ministers were emphatically called the Cabal, and they soon made the appellation so infamous that it has never since ... been used except as a term of reproach."- Macaulay: England, vol. i. chap. ii. p. 165. Source: Brewer's Dictionary. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
The term took on its present invidious meaning from a group of five ministers chosen in 1667 by King Charles II of England (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale), whose initial letters coincidentally spelled Cabal. This Cabal, never very unified in its members' aims and sympathies, fell apart by 1672; Shaftesbury even became one of Charles II's fiercest opponents. The term, however, continued to hold its general meaning of intrigue and conspiracy. Its usage still carries strong connotations of shadowy corners and occult influence; a cabal is more evil and selective than, say, a faction, which is simply selfish.
During the rise of Usenet, the term gained great coinage as a semi-ironic description of the efforts of people to maintain some order over the chaotic, anarchic Usenet community; see backbone cabal, There is no Cabal. As in this specific case, references to an alleged cabal often fall within the realm of the conspiracy theory.
See also zealot, thug, and assassin for other negative words which came from words describing religious extremism or religious sects.
\Cabal is the name of a novel by Clive Barker, which was subsequently made into the movie Nightbreed.
Cabal is also the name of a group on the science fiction television show Enterprise. The Cabal is of a species known as the Suliban. They are the primary villains in the series.
Cabal is also the name of King Arthur's dog.
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Cabal."
Synonyms: CabalSynonyms: camarilla (n), conspiracy (n), faction (n), junta (n), junto (n), complot (v), conjure (v), conspire (v), machinate (v). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Party | Society, association; institute, institution; union; trades union; league, syndicate, alliance, Verein, Bund, Zollverein, combination; Turnverein; league offensive and defensive, alliance offensive and defensive; coalition; federation; confederation, confederacy; junto, cabal, camarilla, camorra, brigue; freemasonry; party spirit; (cooperation). |
Plan | Intrigue, cabal, plot, conspiracy, complot, machination; subplot, underplot, counterplot. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Cabal |
| English words defined with "cabal": associated ♦ Brigue ♦ Caballed, Caballing, Combination by weight ♦ elusive, evasive. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "cabal": ANGLICIZED WORDS ♦ backbone cabal ♦ Conway Cabal ♦ Nana, Notarica ♦ regalia ♦ TINC. (references) |
| Non-English Usage: "Cabal" is also a word in the following languages with English translations in parentheses. Portuguese (complete, exact), Spanish (absolute, complete, entire, exact, integral, overall, proper, regular, thorough, together, total, utter, whole). |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | So you're upset that this bizarre carpet cabal made no attempt to brainwash you. (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Cabal (1988) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Music |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Title | Author | Quote |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | 4, was sketching the plan of his cabal to consolidate the monarchy. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | REGALIA, n. Distinguishing insignia, jewels and costume of such ancient and honorable orders as Knights of Adam; Visionaries of Detectable Bosh; the Ancient Order of Modern Troglodytes; the League of Holy Humbug; the Golden Phalanx of Phalangers; the Genteel Society of Expurgated Hoodlums; the Mystic Alliances of Georgeous Regalians; Knights and Ladies of the Yellow Dog; the Oriental Order of Sons of the West; the Blatherhood of Insufferable Stuff; Warriors of the Long Bow; Guardians of the Great Horn Spoon; the Band of Brutes; the Impenitent Order of Wife-Beaters; the Sublime Legion of Flamboyant Conspicuants; Worshipers at the Electroplated Shrine; Shining Inaccessibles; Fee-Faw-Fummers of the inimitable Grip; Jannissaries of the Broad-Blown Peacock; Plumed Increscencies of the Magic Temple; the Grand Cabal of Able-Bodied Sedentarians; Associated Deities of the Butter Trade; the Garden of Galoots; the Affectionate Fraternity of Men Similarly Warted; the Flashing Astonishers; Ladies of Horror; Cooperative Association for Breaking into the Spotlight; Dukes of Eden; Disciples Militant of the Hidden Faith; Knights-Champions of the Domestic Dog; the Holy Gregarians; the Resolute Optimists; the Ancient Sodality of Inhospitable Hogs; Associated Sovereigns of Mendacity; Dukes-Guardian of the Mystic Cess-Pool; the Society for Prevention of Prevalence; Kings of Drink; Polite Federation of Gents-Consequential; the Mysterious Order of the Undecipherable Scroll; Uniformed Rank of Lousy Cats; Monarchs of Worth and Hunger; Sons of the South Star; Prelates of the Tub-and-Sword. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Cabal" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 95.83% of the time. "Cabal" is used about 24 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 95.83% | 23 | 72,767 |
| Noun (proper) | 4.17% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 24 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes the usage of "cabal" based on a population census conducted in the United States. Ranks and frequencies are based on all names reported and classified. |
| Name | Usage/Gender | Usage per 100 million Persons | Rank in USA |
| Cabal | Last name | 200 | 30,663 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits. | |||
Expression using "cabal": backbone cabal. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
cabal merritt | 445 |
cabal merrit | 107 |
cabal | 103 |
cabal secret | 26 |
cabal meritt | 13 |
cabal cyber merritt | 11 |
cabal merritt pic | 8 |
cabal merritt nude | 7 |
cabal de rosa santa | 6 |
cabal merritt picture | 5 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "cabal"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | marr pjesë (assist, be privy to, enter, go in, join in, partake, participate, put one's name down, share, take part), komplotoj (compass, connive, conspire, contrive, plot, practise), komplot (confederacy, confederate, conspiracy, plot), intrigë (intrigue, jiggery pokery, machination, mine, plot), grupazh (bunch, clique, set). (various references) | |
Arabic | عصبة (band, bevy, clique, crew, faction, league, nervousness, platoon, ring, string), جمعية سرية. (various references) | |
Bulgarian | съзаклятнича (plot), клика (clan, clique, faction, ring, set, tribe), заговорнича (confederate, connive, connote, conspire, plot, scheme), заговор (confederacy, confederation, conspiracy, plot, scheme), интрига (intrigue, knot, machination, maneuver, manoeuvre, plot, scheme). (various references) | |
Czech | úklady (junto). (various references) | |
Danish | cabalglas (cabal glass), backbone cabal (backbone cabal). (various references) | |
Dutch | cabalglas (cabal glass), backbone cabal (backbone cabal). (various references) | |
Farsi | سر (Acme, Apex, Chief, Corona, End, Extremity, Mystery, Pash, Pate, Plug, Point, Ruler, Secret, Thought, Top, Vertex), روایت (Narrative, Story), راز (Covert, Mystery, Secret), دوزوکلک (Underplot), دسیسه کردن (Angle, Intrigue), دسیسه وتوطله . (various references) | |
Finnish | runkoverkon sisäpiiri (backbone cabal). (various references) | |
French | clique, cabale (cabala, canvasses), intrigue. (various references) | |
German | intrigieren (designing, intrigue, machinate, plot, plotting, scheme, scheming). (various references) | |
Greek | κλίκα (camarilla, clique, coterie), σκευωρώ (concoct, machinate, scheme, trump), σκευωρία (concoction, fabrication, frame up, machination, scheme, trumped up charges), μηχανορραφώ (jockey for position, scheme for). (various references) | |
Hebrew | ק ו י" (cahoots, collusion, connivance, conspiracy, intrigue, logrolling). (various references) | |
Hungarian | összeesküvés (confederacy, conspiracy, conspiring, plot, plotting), összeesküszik (conspire, to conspire, to plot), ármánykodik (intrigue, to intrigue, to play politics), ármány (intrigue). (various references) | |
Indonesian | sekutu (ally, confederate, copartner), sekumpulan (batch, horde), sekongkol (intrigue, plot, scheme), komplotan rahasia. (various references) | |
Italian | intrigo (intrigue, machination, scheme, tangle). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | '党 (clique, conspirators, faction). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | ととう (clique, conspirators, faction). (various references) | |
Manx | dronn, cur co-chialg er bun (conspire). (various references) | |
Pig Latin | abalcay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | cabala (cabala, cabbala, conspiracy, intrigue, kabbalah). (various references) | |
Romanian | complota (agitate, collude, devise, scheme), clicã (clan, clique, faction, gang, junto, pack, parcel, set, squad), cabalã (cabbala, intrigue), maşinaţie (engineering, intrigue, machination, manipulation, manoeuvre, scheme), intrigi (manoeuvring), intrigã (action, designing, intrigue, machination, noise, plot, scheme, scheming). (various references) | |
Russian | вступать в заговор, политическая клика, интриговать (intrigue, machinate, scheme). (various references) | |
Spanish | cábala (cabala, cabbala). (various references) | |
Swedish | kabal. (various references) | |
Thai | กลุ่มคนที่รวมกลุ่มกันอย่างลับๆ เพื่อจุ"ประสงค์ทางการเมือง. (various references) | |
Turkish | komplo kurmak (complot, conspire, design, frame, frame up, lay a plot, scheme), komplo (complot, confederacy, conspiracy, design, frame up, plot, scheme, skulduggery), hizip (clique, faction, in-group, sect, splinter group), entrika çevirmek (intrigue, machinate, play politics, practice, practise, scheme), entrika (contrivance, frame up, intrigue, machination, machinations, plot, ruse, scheme, wheeler-dealing), dolap (cabinet, cheating, closet, collusion, cuddy, cupboard, dodge, dope, doubling, flimflam, frame up, game, hutch, imposture, intrigue, jiggery pokery, machination, machinations, maneuver, manoeuvre, ramp, repository, ruse, sell, trap, wardrobe, water wheel, wile), dalavere veya hile yapmak, dümen (cheat, dope, helm, rig, rudder, steering wheel, trick, wheel). (various references) | |
Ukranian | інтригувати (intrigue, machinate, scheme), інтрига (intrigue, machination), та"мна змова (collusion, conspiracy), купка інтріганів, группа змовників, вступати в змову, змовлятися (cahoot, concert, conspire), політична кліка. (various references) | |
Vietnamese | âm mưu bè đảng. (various references) | |
Welsh | clymblaid (clique). (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| French | 1500-Modern | cabal. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "cabal": cabala, cabalas, cabaletta, cabalettas, cabalism, cabalisms, cabalist, cabalistic, cabalists, caballed, caballero, caballeros, caballing, cabals. (additional references) | |
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"Cabal" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: Abal, abhal, acab, Accval, acubol, babal, caal, caba, cabai, cabalh, caban, cabat, cabel, cabell, Cabello, Cabelo, Cabeo, cabey, cabo, Caboc, cabol, cabral, Cabul, caja, Casal, casbar, catal, cavale, Cavali, Cavall, Cazal, Cazale, Cazaly, cbl, cebar, Cefalu, Cepba, cibum, cobal, Cobam, cobil, cyba, Cybill, Ecgbald, fabal, gabal, kaba, Ka'ba, kabal, kabbal, Kabil, kabol, nabal, Rabal, Rauball, sibal, tabal, Ucabel, Zaabal. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-a-b-c-l" | |
-1 letter: alba, baal. | |
-2 letters: aal, aba, ala, alb, baa, bal, cab, lab, lac. | |
-3 letters: aa, ab, al, ba, la. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-a-b-c-l" | |
+1 letter: bacula, cabala, cabals. | |
+2 letters: actable, bacalao, balance, cabalas, cabbala, cambial, capable, capably. | |
+3 letters: abapical, albacore, amicable, amicably, anabolic, bacalaos, bacillar, backhaul, backland, backlash, backslap, backtalk, balanced, balancer, balances, balladic, balsamic, barnacle, basaltic, basilica, berascal, bicaudal, bifacial, biracial, blackcap, blatancy, brachial, braciola, bracteal, cabalism, cabalist, caballed, cabbalah, cabbalas, cableway, cabrilla, calabash, callable, callback, cannibal, capabler, carbamyl, carbaryl, cartable, cascabel, cascable, cashable, castable, causable, clambake, claybank, faceable, fallback, halfback, labrusca, packable, placable, placably, playback, scabland, scalable, scalably, tailback. | |
+4 letters: abdicable, accruable, acetabula, albacores, algebraic, allocable, ambulacra, ambulance, antiblack, bacchanal, bacillary, backhauls, backlands, backpedal, backslaps, backslash, backtalks, bacterial, balaclava, balancers, balancing, baldachin, balmacaan, barcarole, barnacled, barnacles, basically, basilicae, basilican, basilicas, berascals, bicameral, bicoastal, blackball, blackcaps, blackface, blackhead, blackjack, blackland, blacklead, blackmail, blacktail, botanical, brachials, braciolas, branchial, cabaletta, cabalisms, cabalists, caballero, caballing, cabbalahs, cablegram, cableways, cabrillas, calaboose, calibrate, callbacks, camelback, cannibals, canoeable, cantabile, capablest, carambola, carbachol, carbamyls, carbaryls, carbazole, cascabels, cascables, catabolic, catchable, claimable, clambakes, clapboard, claybanks, cleanable, clearable, cleavable, coachable, cobalamin, danceable, exactable, fallbacks, flashback, halfbacks, hatchable, imbalance, incapable, incapably, lampblack, leachable, leaseback, locatable, matchable, parabolic, peaceable, peaceably, placeable, playbacks, reachable, rebalance, scablands, scannable, stackable, subapical, tailbacks, teachable, teachably, trabecula, traceable, trackball, tractable, tractably, unactable, unbalance, vocabular, watchable, whaleback. | |
+5 letters: abacterial, abstractly, acceptable, acceptably, acetabular, acetabulum, achievable, acquirable, actability, actionable, actionably, affectable, alphabetic, ambulacral, ambulacrum, ambulances, amerciable, applicable, ascendable, ascribable, attachable, bacchanals, backhauled, backlashed, backlasher, backlashes, backpedals, backsplash, backwardly, balaclavas, baldachino, baldachins, balmacaans, barcaroles, barcarolle, berascaled, bifacially, blackamoor, blackballs, blackboard, blackfaces, blackguard, blackheads, blackheart, blackjacks, blacklands, blackleads, blackmails, blacksnake, blacktails, blackwater, blancmange, blatancies, bleachable, botanicals, broadscale, cabalettas, cabalistic, caballeros, cablegrams, calabashes, calabooses, calculable, calibrated, calibrates, calibrator, camelbacks, cancelable, candelabra, cannabinol, cannonball, capability, carambolas, carbachols, carbazoles, catabolism, catabolite, catabolize, chalkboard, chalybeate, changeable, changeably, chargeable, charitable, charitably, chelatable, clapboards, coagulable, cobalamins, colobomata, columbaria, comparable, comparably, declarable, detachable, detachably, diabolical, effaceable, encashable, eradicable, factorable, flashbacks, halocarbon, imbalanced, imbalances, implacable, implacably, incunabula, lampblacks, leasebacks, machinable, misbalance, outbalance, pacifiable, procambial, rabbinical, rebalanced, rebalances, recallable, recappable, sabbatical, searchable, subclavian, subglacial, tabernacle, trabeculae, trabecular, trabeculas, trackballs, ultrabasic, unbalanced, unbalances, unscalable, vocabulary, watchables, whalebacks. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)43 61 62 61 6C |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
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| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
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| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
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| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
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Morse Code (1836) (references)-.-. .- -... .- .-.. |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
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Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000011 01100001 01100010 01100001 01101100 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)C a b a l |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0043 0061 0062 0061 006C |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
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Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)3767686778 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Quotations: Fiction 7. Quotations: Non-fiction 8. Usage Frequency | 9. Names: Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Anagrams 16. Orthography | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
