superstition

SUPERSTI'TION, noun [Latin superstitio, supersto; super and sto, to stand.] 1. Excessive exactness or rigor in religious opinions or practice; extreme and unnecessary scruples in the observance of religious rites not commanded, or of points of minor importance; excess or extravagance in religion; the doing of things not required by God, or abstaining from things not forbidden; or the belief of what is absurd, or belief without evidence. Superstition has reference to god, to religion, or to beings superior to man. 2. False religion; false worship. 3. Rite or practice proceeding from excess of scruples in religion. In this sense, it admits of a plural. They the truth With superstitions and traditions taint. 4. Excessive nicety; scrupulous exactness. 5. Belief in the direct agency of superior powers in certain extraordinary or singular events, or in omens and prognostics.