arcane
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”).
Pronunciation
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Audio (US): (file) - Rhymes: -eɪn
Adjective
arcane (comparative more arcane, superlative most arcane)
- Understood by only a few.
- (by extension) Obscure, mysterious.
- Synonyms: enigmatic, esoteric, recondite, clandestine
- arcane origins
- arcane details
- Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge to understand.
- 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN
- A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.
- 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN
- Extremely old (e.g. interpretation or knowledge), and possibly irrelevant.
- An arcane law
Derived terms
Related terms
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Translations
understood by only a few; obscure
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Further reading
- “arcane”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “arcane”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
- “arcane”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
Anagrams
French
Pronunciation
Adjective
arcane (plural arcanes)
- (dated) arcane, secret, mysterious
Noun
arcane m (plural arcanes)
Further reading
- “arcane”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Italian
Adjective
arcane
Anagrams
Latin
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): /arˈkaː.ne/, [ärˈkäːnɛ]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): /arˈka.ne/, [ärˈkäːne]
Adjective
(deprecated template usage) arcāne
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *h₂erk-
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 2-syllable words
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- Rhymes:English/eɪn
- Rhymes:English/eɪn/2 syllables
- English lemmas
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- en:Occult
- French 2-syllable words
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- French nouns
- French countable nouns
- French masculine nouns
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