arcane
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
- arcanely adverb
- arcaneness noun
Etymology
Origin of arcane
First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French, from Latin arcānus, from arc(ēre) “to enclose, restrain, ward off” (derivative of arca “box, chest, coffer”) + -ānus -an
Explanation
Something arcane is understood or known by only a few people. Almost everyone knows the basics of baseball, but only an elite few possess the arcane knowledge of its history that marks the true fan. A near synonym is esoteric, as in "relating to remote information or knowledge." Experts in academic fields often show off the depth of their knowledge by mentioning some arcane and esoteric fact as if it was common for everyone to know. The origin of arcane is Latin arcānus, "secret, closed," from arca, "a chest, box." Arcana (singular arcanum) are pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.
Vocabulary lists containing arcane
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Advanced English Words
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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.
Social media is awash in content about the arcane: how-tos for spellcasting, psychics claiming to foretell the future and endless posts about casting out demons.
From Salon • Apr. 1, 2026
Maybe that is true for the 500 biggest U.S. stocks but less so for a relatively arcane and less-researched sector such as BDCs.
From Barron's • Feb. 27, 2026
But that hasn’t stopped foreign academics, officials and business executives from trying to find out—and some are turning to arcane tea leaf-reading techniques dating back to the era of Mao Zedong.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 15, 2026
Notable in an off-year special election about the arcane and complicated process of redistricting, 71% of likely voters said they had heard a significant amount of information about the ballot measure, according to the poll.
From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 30, 2025
By design they were arcane, opaque, illiquid, and thus conveniently difficult for anyone but Morgan Stanley to price.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
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.
