Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Known or understood by only a few: arcane economic theories. See Synonyms at mysterious.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Hidden; secret.
Wiktionary
- adj. Understood by only a few; obscure; requiring secret or mysterious knowledge.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Hidden; secret.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Etymologies
- Latin arcānus, secret, from arca, chest.
Examples
“To be attributed the concept arcane, on this view, it suffices that S uses the expression ˜arcane™ by and large correctly, ˜in keeping with its content™ “ if she is committed to her community practice of using the corresponding expression”
“A Stygian this time, his face tattooed in arcane designs that had been old when Acheron was new to the world.”
“They were covered in arcane tattoos, but none of them were of Set, the serpent god that Conan, like most westerners abhorred.”
“Dan Brown "shows us" the nation's capital, causes millions to "re-think" Christianity, and "offers a mini-course in arcane historical detail.”
“Like its predecessor, "The Lost Symbol" offers a mini-course in arcane historical detail (did you know that the Capitol once had an eternal flame burning beneath the floor under its rotunda?).”
“A small, nigh-ineffectual group of monster hunters that existed from 1784 until 1806, the âWolves of the Rhineâ would barely register a footnote in arcane histories if not for their leader.”
“He evoked a trenchcoat-wearing stranger stalking your window shopping to explain the trouble with cookies, a tech term arcane to most that describes a means of tracking one's activity online and is at the heart of the "do not track" debate.”
The Huffington Post: FTC Chairman On The Cyber-Stalkers Violating Our Privacy
“Where sons of wealthy ranching families tended to be hard-drinking, steak-devouring, woman-chasing "bloods" completely alienated from things of the intellect and spirit, Francisco didn't drink, abstained from meat and believed in arcane mysticism.”
Glorious innocent: the tragedy and triumph of Francisco Madero (1873–1913)
“Suffice it to say that we will continue to strive to bring you the best in arcane, trivial, and time-wasting blogification by the likes of ourselves, Ian Ayres, and sundry others. —”
Poker Bots on the Rise: A Guest Blog - Freakonomics Blog - NYTimes.com
“Obfuscation of data: Some sites have made their data available, but in arcane or unparseable formats.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘arcane’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Ar!
ar, Ar, argon, are, area, arf, arc, ark, aardwolf, aardvark, aardcucumber, yardarm and 252 more...
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GRE Study guide
Going through the Magoosh website, words I pulled from the verbal section. 2012.
magnanimous, correlate, anglicized, simulacrum, tantamount, obsequiousness, subterfuge, vehement, vociferous, benign, concomitant, veracity and 83 more...
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list
not quite favourite
kringlan “I sometimes pepper a conversation with a bit of arcane little morbid facts,�? said the Comtesse. Jul 18, 2008