/kəˈbæl/·noun·c. 1529 in English for Jewish mystical doctrine; c. 1647 for secret political intrigue (OED)·Established
Origin
From Hebrew qabbālāh ('received tradition'), through medieval mystical scholarship and French political slang, arriving in English by 1616 as a term for secretive factions — the sacred architecture of esoteric transmission repurposed, perfectly, for conspiracy.
Definition
A small group of people united in a secret plot or conspiracy, especially oneseeking to gain political power.
The Full Story
Hebrew via Late Latin and French16th–17th century CEwell-attested
The word 'cabal' derives from Hebrew 'qabbalah' (קַבָּלָה), meaning 'received tradition', from the root q-b-l (קבל), meaning 'to receive' or 'to accept'. Hebrew belongs to the Semitic branch of Afro-Asiatic, making 'cabal' one of the rare English words with Semitic rather than Indo-European ancestry. The Kabbalistic tradition refers to Jewish mystical doctrine transmitted orally from teacher to student. The term entered Medieval Latin as 'cabala' or 'cabbala', used by Christian humanists and occultists in the 15th–16th centuries
Did you know?
The famous 'Cabal Ministry' of Charles II — whose members Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley, and Lauderdale conveniently spell CABAL — is widely cited as the word's origin. It isn't. The word was already in political use decades before these men held power. The acronym was a coincidence noticed at the time, and it stuck so well in popular memory that it has been reversing cause and effect ever since.
— notably Pico della Mirandola (1463–1494) and Johannes Reuchlin, whose 'De Arte Cabalistica' (1517) popularised the term. From Latin the word passed into
. The acronym was a coincidence that reinforced the existing meaning. Key roots: q-b-l (קבל) (Proto-Semitic / Hebrew: "to receive, to accept"), qabbalah (קַבָּלָה) (Hebrew: "that which is received; oral/mystical tradition").