arcane

[ ahr-keyn ]

/ ɑrˈkeɪn /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR arcane ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

known or understood by very few; mysterious; secret; obscure; esoteric: She knew a lot about Sanskrit grammar and other arcane matters.

Nearby words

arcadian, arcadic, arcado-cyprian, arcady, arcana, arcane, arcanist, arcanum, arcanum arcanorum, arcaro, arcas

Origin of arcane

1540–50; (< Middle French) < Latin arcānus, equivalent to arc(ēre) to shut up, keep (derivative of arca a chest, box) + -ānus -an

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for arcane

All those bloodthirsty tweets and arcane exhortations and now we find out you were an advertising executive—an ad exec!
The Scared Widdle Kitty of ISIS|Jacob Siegel|December 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Food stamps are the biggest and most expensive component of the farm bill—an arcane piece of legislation that sets farm policy.
Congress Unites to Screw the Hungry|Monica Potts|September 8, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The arcane pair of paragraphs are packed with the sort of yawn-provoking polysyllables that only a lawyer could love.
Brazil’s Rich Ban Biographies Via Arcane Law|Mac Margolis|November 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
He is admirably intent on rescuing literature from the arcane rituals of US academia and restoring it to a wider audience.
Do We Need to Be Told How to Read?|William Giraldi|June 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST

While they are arcane even in Georgia, they apparently are not without some small degree of influence.
Georgia Is Celebrating Confederate Heritage and History Month? Really?|John Avlon|April 2, 2013|DAILY BEAST
Bennett and Arcane took off their hats and bade the old camp good bye.
Death Valley in '49|William Lewis Manly
Arcane now admitted that they could not have got along half as well, if we had not gone ahead and looked out the land.
Death Valley in '49|William Lewis Manly
Arcane was quite of the same opinion, the saving of a week of hard and tiresome travel being in each case the deciding reason.
Death Valley in '49|William Lewis Manly
Whether or no the involutions of the "Golden Bowl" will titillate his arcane sensibilities.
Instigations|Ezra Pound
We met Bennett and Arcane's teamsters, and as we expected they were already out of grub and no way to get anymore.
Death Valley in '49|William Lewis Manly

British Dictionary definitions for arcane

arcane

/ (ɑːˈkeɪn) /

adjective

requiring secret knowledge to be understood; mysterious; esoteric

Derived Forms

arcanely, adverbarcaneness, noun

Word Origin for arcane

C16: from Latin arcānus secret, hidden, from arcēre to shut up, keep safe

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012