
wordlover-2015-06-17
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Transcript.
Today's word is esoteric, spelled E-S-O-T-E-R-I-C.
Esoteric is an adjective that means designed for or understood by the specially initiated alone. It can also mean requiring or exhibiting knowledge that is restricted to a small group, broadly difficult to understand. Esoteric also means limited to a small circle, private or confidential, or of special, rare, or unusual interest. Here is the word used in Philosophy Now in a sentence by Launt Thompson.
"The esoteric nature of most theories of art prevent them from being absorbed and understood by the art-going public, who on the whole have little interest in philosophy."
The opposite of the word esoteric is exoteric, which means "suitable to be imparted to the public." According to one account, those who were deemed worthy to attend Aristotle's learned discussions were known as his "esoterics," his confidants, while those who merely attended his popular evening lectures were called his "exoterics." Since material that is geared toward a target audience is often not as easily comprehensible to outside observers, esoteric acquired an extended meaning of "difficult to understand." Both esoteric and exoteric started appearing in English in the mid-1600s; esoteric traces back to ancient Greek by way of the Late Latin word esotericus. The Greek esōterikos is based on the comparative form of esō, which means "within."
I'm Peter Sokolowski with your Word of the Day. |