Cabal

in English history applied to the ministry under Charles II., which consisted of five men famous for their intrigues — Clifford, Ashley, Bucking ham, Arlington, and Lauderdale, whose initial letters form this word. The use of this word to signify a body of intriguers was not, however, derived from this circumstance, as scme have supposed, for the word cabale, derived from cabala, was used in that sense in French before this time.