| 释义 |
‖ arcanum|ɑːˈkeɪnəm|
Usually in pl. arcana |ɑːˈkeɪnə|.
[L., neut. of adj. arcānus (see arcane) used subst. In 17–18th c. the pl. form arcana was occas. treated as sing. with pl. arcanas.]
1. A hidden thing; a mystery, a profound secret.
1599Sandys Europ. Spec. (1632) 238 The Arcana of those their ineffable crossings and convertings. 1626D'Ewes in Ellis Orig. Lett. i. 322 III. 218 Because..the anointing of his naked shoulders, armes, hands, and head, were arcana. 1646J. Hall Horæ Vac. 19 It is an arcanum of his Empire to conceale from us the date of our dayes. 1772Watson in Phil. Trans. LXIII. 14 Having..revealed the principal arcana in the manufacture of isinglass. 1864Burton Scot Abr. I. iii. 133 The mysterious arcana of political intrigue.
2. One of the supposed great secrets of nature which the alchemists aimed at discovering; hence, a marvellous remedy, an elixir.
1646Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. 135 The Philosophers stone, potable gold, or any of those Arcana's. 1689Moyle Sea Chyrurg. ii. xxi. 76 The Quintessenses of Cloves and Colocynthis are great arcanums as to the Tooth-ach. 1796Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 343 The infallible arcanum for that purpose. 1821Scott Kenilw. xxii. (1853) 222 The pursuit of the grand arcanum. |