occult: [16] Something that is occult is etymologically ‘hidden’. The word comes from the past participle of Latin occulere ‘hide’, a compound verb formed from the prefix ob- and an unrecorded *celere, a relative of cēlāre ‘hide’ (which forms the second syllable of English conceal). When English acquired it, it still meant broadly ‘secret, hidden’ (‘Metals are nothing else but the earth’s hid and occult plants’, John Maplet, Green Forest 1567), a sense preserved in the derived astronomical term occultation ‘obscuring of one celestial body by another’ [16].
The modern associations with supernatural mysteries did not begin to emerge until the 17th century. => cell, conceal, hall, hell
occult (adj.)
1530s, "secret, not divulged," from Middle French occulte and directly from Latin occultus "hidden, concealed, secret," past participle of occulere "cover over, conceal," from ob "over" (see ob-) + a verb related to celare "to hide," from PIE root *kel- (2) "to cover, conceal" (see cell). Meaning "not apprehended by the mind, beyond the range of understanding" is from 1540s. The association with the supernatural sciences (magic, alchemy, astrology, etc.) dates from 1630s.
双语例句
1. He's interested in witchcraft and the occult.
他对巫术魔法情有独钟。
来自《权威词典》
2. Were not all things charged with occult virtues?
所有的一切事情,难道不是都有隐藏的品质?
来自辞典例句
3. He and the black - leather fellow looked very occult.
