Dictionary.net

an esoteric or occult matter that is traditionally secret

an esoteric or occult matter resembling the Kabbalah that is traditionally secret

A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain mediaeval Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumes that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The cabalists pretend even to foretell events by this means.

A kind of occult theosophy or traditional interpretation of the Scriptures among Jewish rabbis and certain mediaeval Christians, which treats of the nature of god and the mystery of human existence. It assumes that every letter, word, number, and accent of Scripture contains a hidden sense; and it teaches the methods of interpretation for ascertaining these occult meanings. The cabalists pretend even to foretell events by this means.

The secret science alleged to have been divinely imparted to Moses, and traditionally preserved, by which the rabbis affect to interpret the pretended mystic sense of the words, letters, and very accents of Scripture; any mystic science.

n. A mystical interpretation of the Pentateuch, consisting in the meaning attached to certain forms and combinations of the letters of the law;—hence, secret science in general; esoteric doctrine.