occult
UK /ˈɒk.ʌlt/ · US /əˈkʌlt/ verb, adjective, noun
Forms occults occulting occulted
- verb (transitive, astronomy) To cover or hide from view. “The Earth occults the Moon during a lunar eclipse.”
- verb (transitive, rare) To dissimulate, conceal, or obfuscate.
- adjective (medicine) Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected. “occult blood loss; occult cancer”
- adjective (medicine) not visible, but chemically detectable. “occult blood in the urine”
- adjective Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.
- adjective Esoteric.
- noun (usually with "the") Supernatural affairs.
Synonyms
supernatural occult arts eclipse mysterious mystic mystical secret orphic
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Hidden from the eye or the understanding; inviable; secret; concealed; unknown.
- verb To eclipse; to hide from sight.
Etymology [L. occultus, p.p. of occulere to cover up, hide; ob (see Ob-) + a root prob.akin to E. hell: cf. F. occulte.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “occult”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details