Link Centre Dictionary

esoteric

eso·te·ric

UK/ˌiː.səʊˈtɛɹ.ɪk/ US/ˌɛs.əˈtɛɹ.ɪk/ uncommon

adjective

1.

confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle

  • “a compilation of esoteric philosophical theories”

Origin

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek ἐσωτερικός (esōterikós, “belonging to an inner circle”), from ἐσωτέρω (esōtérō, “further inside”), comparative of ἔσω (ésō, “within”), from ἐς (es), εἰς (eis, “into”) (the term esoteric referred originally to the secret teachings of Greek philosophers, versus public or exoteric ones).

Phrases

  • esoteric programming language

Related words

Word family

See also

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.