cabal

cabal,
from the Hebrew word qabbalah, a secret intrigue of a sinister character formed by a small body of persons; or a small body of persons engaged in such an intrigue; in British history applied specially to the five ministers of Charles II who signed the treaty of alliance with France for war against Holland in 1672 ; these were Clifford , Arlington , Buckingham , Ashley (see Shaftesbury, first earl of ), and Lauderdale , the initials of whose names thus arranged happened to form the word ‘cabal’ [OED].