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. obsolete Hidden; secret.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Etymologies
- From Latin arcanus ("hidden, secret"), from arcere ("to shut up"), arca ("a chest"). (Wiktionary)
- Latin arcānus, secret, from arca, chest. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
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 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 more...
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sdamle1
echt
echt, apocalypse, resurgence, forthright, logorrhea, mercurial, torrid, exorcise, obscure, intrusive, morose, vindictive and 94 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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501
Classic
abhor, mirth, obtuse, iota, vex, irk, teem, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane and 401 more...
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501
Classic
irk, teem, blight, pith, moot, mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado and 401 more...
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501
Classic
aberration, abstruse, anomaly, assiduous, august, banal, boisterous, dulcet, epitome, impudent, insolent, mellifluous and 401 more...
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GRE
predilection, explicit, appeal, supplication, appealing, enchanting, ovation, pertinent, apropos, opportunely, applicable, germane and 381 more...
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Steampunk
Words used quite often in steampunk
ansible, airship, chymical, valve, clockwork, dirigible, thaumaturgy, copper, bronze, difference engine, gear, rivets and 516 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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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1824 more...
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Words For Novel
viridity, effigy, paragon, congested, acrid, lilting, clandestine, plethora, accolade, sardonic, naïve, reckoning and 285 more...
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GRE Reference
A list of words unfamiliar to me that I have repeatedly encountered in GRE question sets.
parochial, clique, salacious, aegis, ostracize, conceited, sacrilegious, inane, serendipity, gourmand, polemic, tenuous and 138 more...
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ICE
quincunx, adoxography, panjundrum, breloque, surd, scripturient, rousant, favrile, embouchure, aquarelle, griffonage, sussultatory and 234 more...
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Need to Know!
elicit, educe, refute, cogency, churlish, martinet, veritable, polyglot, dissemble, histrionics, prevarication, verbiage and 166 more...
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Words I Know
List of most of the words I've learned
garner, abase, abate, abdicate, abduct, aberration, abet, abhor, abide, abject, abjure, abnegation and 1046 more...
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GRE verbal 1
GRE
hypocrisy, wizened, arcane, nascent, trifling, malaise, quibble, derogatory, inept, recant, splenetic, insouciance and 16 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for arcane.
kringlan “I sometimes pepper a conversation with a bit of arcane little morbid facts,�? said the Comtesse. Jul 18, 2008