''This article does not discuss "cult" in the original sense of "veneration" or "religious practice"; for that usage see Cult (religious practice). See Cult (disambiguation) for more uses of the term "cult".

Cult definitions coined from 1920 onward refer to a cohesive social group and their devotional beliefs or practices, which the surrounding population considers to be outside of mainstream cultures. The surrounding population may be as small as a neighborhood, or as large as the community of nations. They gratify curiosity about, take action against, or ignore a group, depending on its reputed similarity to cults previously reported by mass media.

The spelling c-u-l-t has at least nine defined meanings divided among positive, negative, and neutral connotations:

• Positive: In common or popular usage, "cult" has a positive connotation for fan groups of art, music, writing, fiction, and fashion devotees (see Cult following). "Cult" also has a positive connotation when used in the original and classic sense of veneration by any group of worshipers, though this meaning is usually applied to groups known from antiquity, including historic cults of the major religions (see Cult (religious practice)).

• Negative: Also in common or popular usage, "cult" has a negative connotation for new religious, extreme political, questionable therapeutic, and pyramidal business groups. Theological cults also have a negative connotation as defined by fundamentalist Christians to include both new and major religion groups. For these reasons, most, if not all, non-fan groups that are called cults reject this label.

• Neutral: In twentieth century and some current scientific usage, "cult" is a technical term with a neutral connotation (see Sociology of religion). Neutral usage of "cult" in sociological science has been partly replaced by the phrase new religious movement (NRM) – but not entirely: because not all sociologically-defined cults are new or religious, there was a formal objection to the term-replacing campaign as "politics of representation", and ultimately the public didn't accept the replacement term.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 neutrally-defined sociological cults existed in the United States in 1995. Since less than 200 groups have been reported by governments as cults entangled with the law, and less than 20 have been described as destructive cults, the vast majority of non-fan groups referred to as cults are well-behaved and known only to their neighbours. Fact: date=April 2009

Historical overview

From about 1920 onward,"During the 1920s and 1930s, sociologists who were studying religion started to use it to refer to those faith groups that were not full denominations or sects." —Ontario Consultants On Religious Tolerance: Cults, Sects and Denominations. OCRT references Superior Court of California, 1985: "It began as a sociological term in the twenties and thirties."; testimony of Dr. J. Gordon Melton, UCSB (author of the Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America; see #Bibliography#Books). the popular negative connotation progressively interfered with scientific study using the neutral historical meaning of "cult" in the sociology of religion."...popular use of the term has gained such credence and momentum that it has virtually swallowed up the more neutral historical meaning of the term from the sociology of religion" James T. Richardson wrote in 1993. A 20th century attempt by sociologists to replace "cult" with the term New Religious Movement (NRM), was rejected by the public "The use of the concept "new religious movements" in public discourse is problematic for the simple reason that it has not gained currency. Speaking bluntly from personal experience, when I use the concept "new religious movements," the large majority of people I encounter don't know what I'm talking about. I am invariably queried as to what I mean. And, at some point in the course of my explanation, the inquirer unfailing responds, "oh, you mean you study cults!" " --Prof. Jeffrey K. Hadden quoted from Conceptualizing "Cult" and "Sect" (cited by cultfaq.org) and not entirely accepted by the social-scientific community."...use of the term 'cult' by academics, the public and the mass media, from its early academic use in the sociology of religion to recent calls for the term to be abandoned by scholars of religion because it is now so overladen with negative connotations. But scholars of religion have a duty not to capitulate to popular opinion, media and governments in the arena of the 'politics of representation'. The author argues that we should continue using the term 'cult' as a descriptive technical term. It has considerable educational value in the study of religions." --Michael York quoted from Defending the Cult in the Politics of Representation DISKUS Vol.4 No.2 (1996) (cited by cultfaq.org)