Definition of: Shinto

(shin′tō) noun
The primitive religion of Japan, consisting chiefly in ancestor worship, nature worship, and the worship of many ethnic divinities, from the chief of whom the Emperor is thought to be descended, and thus himself a god: as State Shinto, it was the state religion of Japan, 1868–1945, and in that period incorporated many nationalistic and militaristic elements, later minimized. Also Shin′to·ism. [<Japanese, way of the gods <Chinese shin god + tao way or law]
—Shin′·to·ist noun