recondite

UK/ˈɹɛk(ə)nˌdaɪt/US/ˈɹɛkənˌdaɪt/

adjectiveC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Recondite means dealing with matters far beyond ordinary knowledge. A recondite subject.

It is neutral about whether the difficulty is worth it, which abstruse is not. A recondite point can be entirely correct and of interest to about nine people.

Definitions of recondite

1adjectivereconditeDealing with matters far beyond ordinary knowledge.C2
“The footnote was recondite even by that journal's standards.”

recondite is a quality.

Where it comes from

Latin reconditus, hidden away, from re plus condere, to put together or store up.

Proto-Indo-European
*dʰeh₁- — to do, make; to place, put
Latin
reconditus — concealed, hidden; difficult to understand, unintelligible; shy, withdrawn
English, today
recondite

Built from

recondō · Latin — to conceal, hide; to put away; to re-establish, put back
condō · Latin — to conceal, hide; to put away, store; to put together; to build, establish; to fashion, form

The adjective is derived from Latin reconditus (“concealed, hidden; difficult to understand, unintelligible; shy, withdrawn”), participial adjective from the perfect passive participle of recondō (“to conceal, hide; to put away; to re-establish, put back”). Recondō is derived from re- + condō (“to conceal, hide; to put away, store; to put together; to build, establish; to fashion, form”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European dʰeh₁- (“to do, make; to place, put”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan recòndit (“hidden; private”), Italian recondito (“hidden, recondite”), Middle French recondit (“hidden; secret”), Portuguese recôndito (“hidden, secluded; isolated, remote”), Spanish recóndito (“hidden, recondite”). The noun was probably derived from the adjective by substantivization. The verb is also derived from the perfect passive participle of recondō; see the etymology section at -ate and above for more.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practise this word

recondite in the wild

The Gita is not repository of recondite philosophy but, as the subtitle of the book shows(Jeevan Dharma Yoga), it is an intensely relevant guide to every man.
Srimad Bhagavad Gita Tatparya
Cabell had always intended the novel to appear as Domnei, but the publisher insisted on the less recondite title The Soul of Melicent.
Domnei: A Comedy of Woman-Worship
Diathrausta reconditalis, the recondite webworm moth, is a moth in the family Crambidae.
Diathrausta reconditalis
The program showcased only the beautiful, the unusual and the recondite without entering into the contemporary debates.
Emporio Daverio

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 condō family

abscond

recondite — used too rare to measure · point at the bar for the others

← Vocabulary