kab·ba·lah or kab·ba·la or ka·ba·la also ca·ba·la or qa·ba·la or qa·ba·lah (k?b??-l?, k?-bä?l?)n.1. often Kabbalah A body of mystical teachings of rabbinical origin, often based on an esoteric interpretation of the Hebrew Scriptures.2. A secret doctrine resembling these teachings.[Medieval Latin cabala, from Hebrew qabb?lâ, received doctrine, tradition, from qibb?l, to receive; see qbl in Semitic roots.]kab?ba·lism n.kab?ba·list n.Usage Note: There are no less than two dozen variant spellings of kabbalah, the most common of which include kabbalah, kabala, kabalah, qabalah, qabala, cabala, cabbala, kaballah, kabbala, kaballah, and qabbalah. This sort of confusion is frequently seen with Hebrew and Arabic words borrowed into English because there exist several different systems of romanizing the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets. Often a more exact or scholarly transliteration, such as Qur’an, will coexist alongside a spelling that has been heavily Anglicized (Koran). The fact that the Hebrew and Arabic alphabets do not as a rule indicate short vowels or the doubling of consonants compounds the difficulties. Spellings of kabbalah with one or two b’s are equally “correct,” insofar as the single b accurately reproduces the spelling of the Hebrew, while the double b represents that it was once pronounced with a double b.American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.kabbalah (k??b??l?) , kabbala , kabala , cabbala , cabala or qabalahn1. (Judaism) an ancient Jewish mystical tradition based on an esoteric interpretation of the Old Testament2. any secret or occult doctrine or science[C16: from Medieval Latin, from Hebrew qabb?l?h tradition, what is received, from q?bal to receive] kabbalism, kabalism, cabbalism, cabalism, qabalism n ?kabbalist, ?kabalist, ?cabbalist, ?cabalist, ?qabalist n ?kabba?listic, ?kaba?listic, ?cabba?listic, ?caba?listic, ?qaba?listic adjCollins English Dictionary ? Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014