Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air.
- adj. Impervious to outside interference or influence: the hermetic confines of an isolated life.
- adj. Mythology Of or relating to Hermes Trismegistus or the works ascribed to him.
- adj. Having to do with the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Of or pertaining to Hermes.
- [cap. or lowercase] Pertaining to Hermes Trismegistus, or to the theosophy, cosmogony, and later alchemy and astrology associated with his name; alchemic. Thoth, the Egyptian Hermes, was supposed to have written certain sacred books of the Egyptian priests, which treated of the doctrine and ritual of religion and various natural sciences. In the second century after Christ, these true Hermetic books having been forgotten (for they were always kept secret), other books appeared, containing a jumble of incongruous theosophical and philosophical ideas, bearing the name of Hermes Trismegistus as their author, and assumed to be the ancient sacred books of Egypt. They were doubtless written by Alexandrian Neo-Platonists. To them were added alchemical and astrological books attributed to the same author.
- Of or pertaining to a hermes: as, a hermetic column.
Wiktionary
- adj. Of or pertaining to Hermes Trismegistus.
- adj. Of or pertaining to alchemy or occult practices.
- adj. Obscure; secret or unrevealed.
- adj. Isolated, away from outside influence.
- adj. Airtight or gas-tight; impervious to air or gases.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Of, pertaining to, or taught by, Hermes Trismegistus. Hence: Alchemical; chemic.
- adj. Of or pertaining to the system which explains the causes of diseases and the operations of medicine on the principles of the hermetic philosophy, and which made much use, as a remedy, of an alkali and an acid.
- adj. Made perfectly close or air-tight by fusion, so that no gas or spirit can enter or escape. See Note under Hermetically.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. completely sealed; completely airtight
Etymologies
- From the Greek god and mythological alchemist Hermes Trismegistus, who was said to possess a magic ability to seal (with spells) treasure chests so that nothing could access their contents. (Wiktionary)
- New Latin hermēticus, alchemical, from Medieval Latin Hermēs (Trismegistus); see Hermes Trismegistus. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“It is progressive to not only increase knowledge of the world, but to spread this knowledge as widely as possible; to wrap one's arguments in hermetic language is itself reactionary, supporting the position that there is a select "elite" who can understand these issues and cutting pretty much everyone else off from them.”
“We pollute, litter and desecrate our own country because we live in hermetic air-conditioned vinyl castles.”
“He knows how to work with a composer he described as "hermetic, private and living in the extreme remoteness of the Orkney Islands, where you can't easily get hold of him, so it all has to happen rather at arm's length.”
“The little we have learned is called hermetic knowledge, and the spells that summon forth their true appearance is called the cabala by some.”
“When later in life her work was called hermetic and she herself a "sacred monster," it was to her own great dismay.”
“Carnac would repeat the phrase, rip the "hermetic" seal, blow into the envelope, repeat the phrase again, then reveal the inner query:”
“Aegineta, and for that matter in certain Egyptian papyri (especially a certain very famous one, still extant, of which Clement of Alexandria speaks as a secret or 'hermetic' book), we can trace the broken and scattered stones of a great edifice of ancient chemistry.”
“Even to this day, we use the term "hermetic" in the sense of "secret";”
The Kybalion A Study of The Hermetic Philosophy of Ancient Egypt and Greece
“In all accounts of the BP rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico and in the lexicon of horizontal hydraulic fracturing, one word, and the most important word imaginable to my mind, is never mentioned, namely, "hermetic," as in "hermetic seal.”
“Defense officials stress that even the best missile defense will not provide "hermetic" protection against Kassams, Grads, mortars and similar weaponry.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hermetic’.
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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 4087 more...
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G[r]eek
A collection of words found in English that are either purely Greek or have Greek etymology.
Please add with caution and certainty. Will be regularly updated by me.etymology, philosophy, laconic, disharmony, patriarchic, archaic, phlogiston, aether, aeon, angel, arachnid, rhythm and 346 more...
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501
Classic
mete, ire, bane, bilk, boor, elan, ado, toil, onus, aberration, abstruse, anomaly and 401 more...
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GRE Barron's 800
zealot, wistful, welter, wary, whimsical, warranted, vortex, vivisection, volatile, vitiate, viscous, visage and 787 more...
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phrontistery - h
from phrontistery.info
habanera, habergeon, habilable, habilatory, habile, habiliment, habilitate, habromania, hachure, hackle, hackney, hadal and 568 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 2014
abase, abate, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abjure, abortive, abound, abrasive, abreast, abridge and 1577 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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NTDW2
yawp, amidships, smug, jounce, fallow, conscionable, polyp, whit, nouveau riche, palatial, encomiastic, exchequer and 182 more...
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January 2012
bloviate, pastiche, apparat, facile, paroxysm, pique, bedfellow, pedigree, tutelage, protege, protégé, retroactive and 196 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 words
convoluted, deride, melancholy, antagonize, antagonize, deference, portentous, prodigious, ruminate, ineffable, turgid, mossy and 58 more...
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man gre
abase, abeyance, abreast, abscission, abscond, abyss, accede, accretion, acerbic, acidulous, acumen, adulterate and 483 more...
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gre2
aberrant, aberration, aboveboard, abrasive, abstemious, acme, admonish, affable, affluent, alacrity, allegory, alleviate and 1847 more...
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apjoseph's words
insurmountable, ubiquitous, unequivocal, incumbent, asinine, amenable, sycophants, precarious, malevolent, gregarious, raison detra, nefarious and 200 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hermetic.
kringlan It reminds me of one of my favourite words "Hermeneutic" Apr 10, 2009