adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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General-American:/ɑɹˈkeɪn/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
rhymes with -eɪn
CMU ARPABET:AA2 R K EY1 N
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Understood by only a few.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
arcane rituals
arcane knowledge
The professor’s lecture was full of arcane references.
The manuscript contained arcane symbols no one could decipher.
He had an arcane knowledge of ancient rituals.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: esoteric
Antonyms: mundane
2
adj
Meaning 2
Obscure, mysterious.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge to understand.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; →ISBN A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Extremely old (e.g. interpretation or knowledge), and possibly irrelevant.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
an arcane law
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
requiring secret or mysterious knowledge
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
the arcane science of dowsing
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arceō (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”).
Across languages
Translations
46 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Bulgarian:
тайнствен
(tajnstven)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Bulgarian:
езотеричен
(ezoteričen)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Catalan:
arcà
— understood by only a few; obscure
Catalan:
secret
— understood by only a few; obscure
Czech:
tajuplný
— understood by only a few; obscure
Czech:
tajemný
— understood by only a few; obscure
Dutch:
geheim
— understood by only a few; obscure
Dutch:
duister
— understood by only a few; obscure
Esperanto:
arkana
— understood by only a few; obscure
Finnish:
salainen
— understood by only a few; obscure
French:
arcane
— understood by only a few; obscure
German:
geheim
— understood by only a few; obscure
German:
geheimnisvoll
— understood by only a few; obscure
German:
obskur
— understood by only a few; obscure
German:
arkan
— understood by only a few; obscure
Greek:
απόκρυφος
(apókryfos)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Greek:
μυστικός
(mystikós)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Icelandic:
hulinn
— understood by only a few; obscure
Icelandic:
dulinn
— understood by only a few; obscure
Italian:
arcano
— understood by only a few; obscure
Latin:
arcānus
— understood by only a few; obscure
Persian:
سری
(serriyy)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Portuguese:
arcano
— understood by only a few; obscure
Russian:
та́йный
(tájnyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Russian:
таи́нственный
(taínstvennyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Russian:
мисти́ческий
(mistíčeskij)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Russian:
скры́тый
(skrýtyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Serbo-Croatian:
таја̀нствен
— understood by only a few; obscure
Serbo-Croatian:
ми̏стерио̄зан
— understood by only a few; obscure
Serbo-Croatian:
tajànstven
— understood by only a few; obscure
Serbo-Croatian:
mȉsteriōzan
— understood by only a few; obscure
Spanish:
arcano
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
esoterisk
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
mystisk
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
hemlig
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
fördold
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
svårtillgänglig
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
sekret
— understood by only a few; obscure
Swedish:
hemlighetsfull
— understood by only a few; obscure
Turkish:
esrarlı
— understood by only a few; obscure
Turkish:
gizemli
— understood by only a few; obscure
Turkish:
saklı
— understood by only a few; obscure
Turkish:
içrek
— understood by only a few; obscure
Ukrainian:
таємний
(tajemnyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Ukrainian:
прихований
(pryxovanyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
Ukrainian:
містичний
(mistyčnyj)
— understood by only a few; obscure
