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arcane

US/ɑɹˈkeɪn/
adjectiveC2Occasional — familiar, but not everyday · #11,114 of 15,258neutral

Arcane means known only to a few, and mysterious to the rest. Arcane rules, arcane knowledge, an arcane procedure.

It is used most often with a note of complaint, as in the arcane rules of some committee. In fantasy writing it has taken on a settled second life as the standard adjective for magic that is studied rather than granted.

Definitions of arcane

  1. 1adjectivearcaneKnown only to a few, and mysterious to the rest.C2

    “The club has arcane rules about what members can wear in the dining room.”

arcane is a quality.

Remember it

The Latin means to shut away. Arcane knowledge is a secret kept where only a few people can reach it.

hooks ontosecret

Where it comes from

Latin arcanus means hidden, from arca, a chest, and arcere, to shut up.

  1. Latin

    arcānus

  2. English, today

    arcane

Built from

  • arceō · Latin — to shut up, enclose

Borrowed from Latin arcānus. Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

arcane in the wild

  • Many fictional works of arcane literature appear in H.

    List of Cthulhu Mythos books

  • For example, in Robert Bloch's tale "The Shambler from the Stars", characters inadvertently cast a spell from the arcane book De Vermis Mysteriis.

    List of Cthulhu Mythos books

  • The bard class is versatile, capable of combat and of magic (divine magic in earlier editions, arcane magic in later editions).

    Bard (Dungeons & Dragons)

  • A sorcerer is weak in melee combat, but a master of arcane magic, generally the most powerful form of D&D magic.

    Sorcerer (Dungeons & Dragons)

  • A wizard uses arcane magic, and is considered less effective in melee combat than other classes.

    Wizard (Dungeons & Dragons)

From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.

Related words

the arceō family

coercioncoercearcane

arcane — used about once every 8,182 pages · #11,114 · point at the bar for the others