occult
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
occult (third-person singular simple present occults, present participle occulting, simple past and past participle occulted)
- (transitive, astronomy) To cover or hide from view.
- The Earth occults the Moon during a lunar eclipse.
- (transitive, rare) To dissimulate, conceal, or obfuscate.
TranslationsEdit
to cover
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AdjectiveEdit
occult (comparative more occult, superlative most occult)
- (medicine) Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.
- occult blood loss; occult cancer
- 1860, Isaac Taylor, “Mind in Form”, in Ultimate Civilization[1], page 178:
- This counter-influence is so much more conclusive […] because it is of an occult kind, and is so insensible in its advances as to escape observation.
- Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.
- 2017, Pao Chang, Word Magic: The Powers & Occult Definitions of Words, →OCLC:
- Be aware that occult knowledge can be used for good or evil purposes.
- Esoteric.
- 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:
- Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
esoteric
NounEdit
occult (uncountable)
- (usually with "the") Supernatural affairs.
TranslationsEdit
supernatural affairs
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