Standard Lemma guide

occultation

noun · 4 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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  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˌɒkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
  • General-American: /ˌɑkəlˈteɪʃ(ə)n/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

An astronomical event that occurs when one celestial object is hidden by another celestial object that passes between it and the observer when the nearer object appears larger and completely hides the more distant object.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: astronomy, natural-sciences

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eclipse

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

The state of being occult (“hidden, undetected”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: hiddenness, invisibility, occultness

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

The disappearance of the Twelfth Imam, or Mahdi, who is believed alive and present in this world, but hidden until his reappearance at the end of time.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: Shia, countable, uncountable

Topics: Islam, lifestyle, religion

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

one celestial body obscures another

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: eclipse

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: interruption, break

Narrower terms: solar eclipse, lunar eclipse, total eclipse, partial eclipse

History

Etymology

From Latin occultātiōnem, accusative singular of occultātiō (“concealment; insinuation”), from occultāre, present active infinitive of occultō (“to conceal, hide”); analysable as occult + -ation.

Across languages

Translations

50 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: okultacioni — astronomical event
  • Arabic: احْتِجَاب — astronomical event
  • Basque: ezkutaketa — astronomical event
  • Belarusian: пакрыццё (pakryccjó) — astronomical event
  • Bengali: অদৃশ্যকরণ (odriśśokron) — astronomical event
  • Bulgarian: затъмнение (zatǎmnenie) — astronomical event
  • Catalan: ocultació — astronomical event
  • Chinese Mandarin: 掩星 — astronomical event
  • Czech: okultace — astronomical event
  • Czech: zákryt — astronomical event
  • Danish: okkultation — astronomical event
  • Dutch: bedekking — astronomical event
  • Dutch: occultatie — astronomical event
  • Esperanto: kaŝado — astronomical event
  • Finnish: okkultaatio — astronomical event
  • Finnish: tähdenpeitto — astronomical event
  • French: occultation — astronomical event
  • Galician: ocultación — astronomical event
  • German: Bedeckung — astronomical event
  • German: Okkultation — astronomical event
  • German: Verfinsterung — astronomical event
  • Greek: επιπρόσθηση (epiprósthisi) — astronomical event
  • Hebrew: הסתרה — astronomical event
  • Hindi: ग्रसन (grasan) — astronomical event
  • Icelandic: stjörnumyrkvi — astronomical event
  • Indonesian: okultasi — astronomical event
  • Irish: ceilt — astronomical event
  • Italian: occultazione — astronomical event
  • Japanese: 掩蔽 (enpei) — astronomical event
  • Korean: 엄폐 (eompye) — astronomical event
  • Latvian: aizklāšanās — astronomical event
  • Latvian: okultācija — astronomical event
  • Macedonian: прикривање (prikrivanje) — astronomical event
  • Macedonian: окултација (okultacija) — astronomical event
  • Malay: penghijaban — astronomical event
  • Malayalam: ഉപഗൂഹനം (upagūhanaṁ) — astronomical event
  • Norwegian Bokmål: okkultasjon — astronomical event
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: okkultasjon — astronomical event
  • Persian: اختفاء — astronomical event
  • Polish: okultacja — astronomical event
  • Portuguese: ocultação — astronomical event
  • Romanian: ocultație — astronomical event
  • Russian: покрытие (pokrytije) — astronomical event
  • Serbo-Croatian: okultacija — astronomical event
  • Slovak: zákryt — astronomical event
  • Slovene: okultacija — astronomical event
  • Spanish: ocultación — astronomical event
  • Swedish: ockultation — astronomical event
  • Ukrainian: покриття (pokryttja) — astronomical event
  • Arabic: الغَيْبَة (al-ḡayba) — Mahdi's disappearance in twelver Shiite's doctrine