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Cabal has been associated with a group of five ministers in the government of England's King Charles II. The initial letters of the names or titles of those men (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale) spelled cabal, and they have been collectively dubbed as the "Cabal Cabinet" or "Cabal Ministry." But these five names are not the source of the word cabal, which was in use decades before Charles II ascended the throne. The term traces back to cabbala, the Medieval Latin name for the Kabbalah, a traditional system of esoteric Jewish mysticism. Latin borrowed Cabbala from the Hebrew qabbālāh, meaning "received or traditional lore."
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Examples of cabal in a Sentence
Matt Brennan, Los Angeles Times, 9 Aug. 2024
Adherents coalesced on a narrative: A cabal of global leaders, who sometimes drank the blood of children, would be exposed and arrested by Trump.
—Richard Ruelas, The Arizona Republic, 5 Aug. 2024
These are all ace players getting into a cabal of friends who are frenemies who are suspects.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 4 Aug. 2024
In my view, Joe Biden was overthrown by an elitist cabal.
—Letters To The Editor, Orlando Sentinel, 29 July 2024
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cabal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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“Cabal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cabal. Accessed 22 Aug. 2024.
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