arcanum
Americannoun
-
Often arcana secret or arcane knowledge, acquired or understood by only a few.
If you enjoy the arcana of early baseball, this book is for you.
-
a supposed great secret of nature that the alchemists sought to discover.
-
a secret and powerful remedy; elixir.
noun
-
(sometimes plural) a profound secret or mystery known only to initiates
-
a secret of nature sought by alchemists
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of arcanum
First recorded in 1590–1600; from Latin, neuter (used as noun) of arcānus arcane ( def. )
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Of course, rather than the arcanum of regulation, what most Americans worry about today are economic growth, jobs, and the federal debt.
From Forbes • Feb. 14, 2012
There is, to be sure, an arcanum of prosodic theory which is the province of specialists.
From The Principles of English Versification by Baum, Paull Franklin
She is the cavern, the secret lair of life and the casket in which that one great arcanum and impenetrable secret of motherhood is forever concealed—forever and forever.
From The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862 Devoted to Literature and National Policy by Various
Without this arcanum one might as well hire the Devil for a preceptor as be one himself, as the daughters of bad mothers prove.
From The Invisible Lodge by Jean Paul
She introduces us at once to the Tsar and the innermost arcanum of his Court.
From Lola Montez An Adventuress of the 'Forties by d'Auvergne, Edmund B.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
