arcane C2 Topic:People & Society US /ɑɹˈkeɪn/ See IPA manual Freq #35802 Meanings 1 adj Mysterious and understood by only a few people. The manual was full of arcane rules that no one could follow. 2 adj Requiring secret or specialist knowledge to understand. He devoted years to the arcane study of ancient symbols. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 adj · mysterious and understood... esotericreconditeenigmatic More darkmysticobscureoccult ↔ Opposites accessibleexotericirreconditenonesotericopenwell-known Word family Derived forms arcanelyarcanenessarcanistarcanityarcanologysuperarcane Related forms arcanaarculus Common collocations arcane science Adjective + noun Etymology AI details Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”). *h₂erk- Proto-Indo-European arcānus Latin View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # arcane **Type:** Word **Level:** C2 **Part of speech:** adj **IPA (US):** /ɑɹˈkeɪn/ **Frequency rank:** 35802 ## Meanings 1. Mysterious and understood by only a few people. 2. Requiring secret or specialist knowledge to understand. ## Examples - The manual was full of arcane rules that no one could follow. - He devoted years to the arcane study of ancient symbols. ## Synonyms - dark - enigmatic - esoteric - mystic - obscure - occult - recondite ## Antonyms - accessible - exoteric - irrecondite - nonesoteric - open - well-known ## Derived Forms - arcanely - arcaneness - arcanist - arcanity - arcanology - superarcane ## Related Forms - arcana - arculus ## Roots and Affixes - Root: *h₂erk- - Root: arcānus ## Etymology Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”). ## AI Etymology Arcane is borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”). Important recorded forms include *h₂erk- (Proto-Indo-European) and arcānus (Latin). Current senses include mysterious and understood by only a few people and requiring secret or specialist knowledge to understand. The wider family includes derived forms such as arcanely, arcaneness, arcanist, arcanity, and arcanology; related words such as arcana and arculus. ## Topics - People & Society markdown