worship

Images

Read Next

African American man praying in church with stained glass in background

Why Do People Say “Amen” at the End of a Prayer?

Discover

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

The Sun Was Eaten: 6 Ways Cultures Have Explained Eclipses

Pluto. The Changing Faces of Pluto. Most detailed view to date of the entire surface of the dwarf planet Pluto, as constructed from multiple NASA Hubble Space Telescope photographs taken from 2002 to 2003.

10 Important Dates in Pluto History

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

Adolf Hitler (Nazi, nazism, German leader).

9 Things You Might Not Know About Adolf Hitler

earthquake. Heavily damaged school in the town of Yingxiu after a major earthquake struck China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008.

The 6 Deadliest Earthquakes Since 1950

solar eclipse, sun, moon, astronomy, space

How Do You Tell the Difference Between Total, Annular, Solar, and Lunar Eclipses?

History & Society

worship

religion

Written by Walter Harrelson

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Article History

Charles Sprague Pearce: Religion

See all media

Category: History & Society

Key People:: Ramakrishna; Nefertiti; Chaitanya; Horemheb; Li Shaojun

Related Topics:: sacrifice; nature worship; prayer; sun worship; idolatry

See all related content →

worship, broadly defined, the response, often associated with religious behaviour and a general feature of almost all religions, to the appearance of that which is accepted as holy—that is, to a sacred power or being. Characteristic modes of response to the holy include cultic acts of all kinds: ritual drama, prayers of many sorts, dancing, ecstatic speech, veneration of various persons and objects, sermons, silent meditation, and sacred music and song. Also included in worship are acts of private response: spoken or unspoken prayers, silence, the assumption of particular postures, ritual acts and gestures, and individual acts of veneration of ...(100 of 6017 words)

Access the full article

Help support true facts by becoming a member.