See cargo cult in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From cargo (“Western material goods”) + cult. First used in print by N. M. Bird in a 1945 article.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "cargo cults",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "cargo cult (plural cargo cults)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "98 2",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Religion",
"orig": "en:Religion",
"parents": [
"Culture",
"Society",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "84 16",
"word": "cargo culting"
},
{
"_dis1": "84 16",
"word": "cargo cult science"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any of several religious movements among the people of Melanesia that anticipate the arrival of material cargo or cultural restoration, typically through the ritual imitation of the activities of colonial or technological cultures."
],
"id": "en-cargo_cult-en-noun-L~PsPD5y",
"links": [
[
"religious",
"religious"
],
[
"movement",
"movement"
],
[
"Melanesia",
"Melanesia"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English terms with collocations",
"parents": [
"Terms with collocations",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "39 61",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "36 64",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "36 64",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 2 entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "37 63",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "33 67",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with French translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "31 69",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Japanese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "40 60",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Portuguese translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "cargo cult science",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "cargo cult software engineering",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2019 May 2, Nellie Bowles, “Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley”, in New York Times:",
"text": "“People should slow down and understand what they’re trying to optimize for before just following Jack,” Mr. Woo said. “You don’t want to be in a cargo cult type thing.”",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any of several philosophies, practices or pseudosciences that are not rooted in experiment, often characterized by an unreflected and ritualistic approach."
],
"id": "en-cargo_cult-en-noun-en:figurative",
"links": [
[
"philosophies",
"philosophy"
],
[
"practice",
"practice"
],
[
"pseudoscience",
"pseudoscience"
],
[
"experiment",
"experiment"
],
[
"unreflected",
"unreflected"
],
[
"ritualistic",
"ritualistic"
],
[
"approach",
"approach"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figuratively, also attributive) Any of several philosophies, practices or pseudosciences that are not rooted in experiment, often characterized by an unreflected and ritualistic approach."
],
"senseid": [
"en:figurative"
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culte du cargo"
},
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "kāgo karuto",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"word": "カーゴ・カルト"
},
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cargo cult"
},
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto à carga"
},
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto de carga"
},
{
"_dis1": "48 52",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto da carga"
}
],
"word": "cargo cult"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English multiword terms",
"English nouns",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 2 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Terms with French translations",
"Terms with Japanese translations",
"Terms with Portuguese translations",
"en:Religion"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "cargo culting"
},
{
"word": "cargo cult science"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From cargo (“Western material goods”) + cult. First used in print by N. M. Bird in a 1945 article.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "cargo cults",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "cargo cult (plural cargo cults)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"glosses": [
"Any of several religious movements among the people of Melanesia that anticipate the arrival of material cargo or cultural restoration, typically through the ritual imitation of the activities of colonial or technological cultures."
],
"links": [
[
"religious",
"religious"
],
[
"movement",
"movement"
],
[
"Melanesia",
"Melanesia"
]
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with collocations",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "cargo cult science",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "cargo cult software engineering",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2019 May 2, Nellie Bowles, “Jack Dorsey Is Gwyneth Paltrow for Silicon Valley”, in New York Times:",
"text": "“People should slow down and understand what they’re trying to optimize for before just following Jack,” Mr. Woo said. “You don’t want to be in a cargo cult type thing.”",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Any of several philosophies, practices or pseudosciences that are not rooted in experiment, often characterized by an unreflected and ritualistic approach."
],
"links": [
[
"philosophies",
"philosophy"
],
[
"practice",
"practice"
],
[
"pseudoscience",
"pseudoscience"
],
[
"experiment",
"experiment"
],
[
"unreflected",
"unreflected"
],
[
"ritualistic",
"ritualistic"
],
[
"approach",
"approach"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(figuratively, also attributive) Any of several philosophies, practices or pseudosciences that are not rooted in experiment, often characterized by an unreflected and ritualistic approach."
],
"senseid": [
"en:figurative"
],
"tags": [
"also",
"attributive",
"figuratively"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "fr",
"lang": "French",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culte du cargo"
},
{
"code": "ja",
"lang": "Japanese",
"roman": "kāgo karuto",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"word": "カーゴ・カルト"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "cargo cult"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto à carga"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto de carga"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "Melanesian religion based upon Western manufactured goods",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "culto da carga"
}
],
"word": "cargo cult"
}
Download raw JSONL data for cargo cult meaning in English (3.2kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2025-01-13 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2025-01-01 using wiktextract (4ba5975 and 4ed51a5). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.