arcane
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of arcane
First recorded in 1540–50; from Middle French, from Latin arcānus, from arc(ēre) “to enclose, restrain, ward off” (derivative of arca “box, chest, coffer”) + -ānus -an
Explanation
Something arcane is understood or known by only a few people. Almost everyone knows the basics of baseball, but only an elite few possess the arcane knowledge of its history that marks the true fan. A near synonym is esoteric, as in "relating to remote information or knowledge." Experts in academic fields often show off the depth of their knowledge by mentioning some arcane and esoteric fact as if it was common for everyone to know. The origin of arcane is Latin arcānus, "secret, closed," from arca, "a chest, box." Arcana (singular arcanum) are pieces of mysterious knowledge or information.
Vocabulary lists containing arcane
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Advanced English Words
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Transluce studied a much broader set of arcane AI agent data requests that stretch back as far as November 2025 and continue as recently as mid-September.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 24, 2026
Or with arcane historical trivia, like the magazine capacity of the air rifle Lewis and Clark took on their westward expedition in the early 1800s.
From Slate ● Sep. 16, 2026
So what better time to drop a new album full of arcane jokes, baffling vocal affects and light conspiracy theorizing?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Where is the graying legal scholar sitting in a humid Cape Cod cottage who wouldn’t love to dive into some arcane case law and get justice for a game-changing superstar?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
The Fellini-esque quartet spoke in an arcane language and made references to people with feudal titles who lived centuries ago.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
