occultadj.n.

Brit.

/əˈkʌlt/,

/ˈɒkʌlt/, U.S.

/əˈkəlt/

Forms: 1500s–1600s occulte, 1500s– occult; Scottish pre-1700 ocult, pre-1700 1700s– occult.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin occultus, occulere.

Etymology: < classical Latin occultus secret, hidden from the understanding, hidden, concealed, past participle of occulere to cover up, hide, conceal < ob- ob- prefix + a stem of which a lengthened form is seen in cēlāre to hide (see cele v.) < the same Indo-European base as heel v.¹ Compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French occulte secret (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman; also in Anglo-Norman as oculte (first half of the 12th cent.)), Italian occulto (1308), Spanish oculto (1438), Catalan ocult (1481), Portuguese oculto (16th cent.). With use as noun compare classical Latin occulta secrets, use as noun of neuter plural of occultus (see above), and French occulte secret thing (1821). Compare slightly later occult v.With occult philosophy (see quot. 1651 at sense A. 1b) compare post-classical Latin occulta philosophia , title of a work by H. C. Agrippa (1531), and French philosophie occulte (1603 or earlier). With occult sciences (see quots. 1711 at sense A. 1b, 1903 at sense A. 1b) compare French sciences occultes (1690). With occult qualities (see sense A. 2c) compare French qualités occultes (1677). With occult disease (see sense A. 3b) compare classical Latin occulti morbi , plural (Pliny). With occult line (see sense A. 3c) compare French ligne occulte (1690).

A. adj.

a. Not disclosed or divulged, secret; kept secret; communicated only to the initiated. Now rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective] > kept secret, esoteric

occult1480

secret1526

acroamatical1579

acroamatic1635

acroatic1656

esoteric1660

esoterical1850

1480 Curia Sapiencie (Caxton) sig e iij^v These artycles..Dame feyth her self gan telle..With al the secretes of the deyte Whiche in Englysshe not reherced be Suche thyng as shold be pryuate & occult I rede we leue, and take quicumque vult.

a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome (1926) I. 128 His fyrst cummyne was occult & secret.

c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. xiv. 78 Began to rise Ilk day occult slauchteris and cruelteis in his ciete.

1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. ii. ii. v. 591 Such occult notes, Stenography, Polygraphy, [etc.].

1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 60 By occult interests of State.

1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 255 These suffrages are all occult, that is, given by putting of balls into balloting-boxes.

1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 457 Ancient and occult sacrifices were polluted.

1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. Pref. 5 Those philosophers of antiquity, who are represented as having held two bodies of doctrine, a popular and an occult one.

1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. I. 323 Printing remained..a secret and occult art.

1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche v. iii. 54 Of their plots occult [they] Sat whispering on their beds.

1990 A. Tomlinson et al. Consumption, Identity & Style (1991) (BNC) 153 Although couched in the typically occult language of the time, Garland's prescient account [in his notorious homosexual novel of 1953 The Heart in Exile] catches society at a crossroads.

b. Of or relating to magic, alchemy, astrology, theosophy, or other practical arts held to involve agencies of a secret or mysterious nature; of the nature of such an art; dealing with or versed in such matters; magical.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > [adjective]

curiousc1384

mystical1516

cabbalisticala1593

occult1593

hermetical1605

cabbalistic1625

hermetica1637

adeptical1662

trismegistic1678

trismegistical1678

trismegistian1694

Sibylline1817

Sibyllica1849

occultist1893

widdershins1926

1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 162 Occult Philosophers, wrap-vp their profoundest..mysteries in the..closest intrals of an Asse.

a1634 W. Austin Devotionis Augustinianæ Flamma (1635) 249 Much vertue and power is attributed to these..by the Occult Philosophers.

1651 J. Freake (title) Three books of occult philosophy, written by Henry Cornelius Agrippa..Translated out of the Latin into the English tongue.

1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. ii. i. 53 From this Parent-Country of occult Sciences..he was presum'd..to have learnt..judicial Astrology.

1797 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 24 509 Agrippa and his friends had a taste for the occult sciences, for alchemy, divination, dæmonurgy, and astrology.

1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 216 A beetle of baked clay, covered with Arabic inscriptions, which was pronounced a prodigious amulet of occult virtues.

1863 D. Wilson Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. (ed. 2) II. iv. iii. 257 A charm, or occult sign.

1884 H. Jennings Phallicism xiii. 133 An assertion of the occult philosophers.

1903 F. L. Gardner (title) A Catalogue raisonné of works on the occult sciences.

1961 A. Christie Pale Horse v. 64 She's very occult... Goes in for spiritualism and trances, and magic. Not quite black masses, but that sort of thing.

1993 Times 29 July 5/1 Sales of horror and occult books are stronger than ever.

a. Not apprehended, or not apprehensible, by the mind; beyond ordinary understanding or knowledge; abstruse, mysterious; inexplicable.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective]

secrec1386

mystica1398

mystical1516

dark1532

arcane1547

occulta1549

shadowish1561

abstruse1576

cryptical1588

shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mysterya1616

mysterious1622

mysterial1630

cryptica1638

researched1653

rarefied1662

arcanalc1828

sphinx-like1837

sphinxine1845

abstrusive1848

Sphingine1925

a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) Forewords 25 To pronostycate any mater of the occulte iugements of god.

1597 King James VI & I Daemonologie (1924) 44 He is farre cunningner then man in the knowledge of all the occult properties of nature.

1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing iii. 26 Some secret Art of the Soul, which to us is utterly occult, and without the ken of our Intellects.

1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 160. ⁋8 Some have..an occult power of stealing upon the affections.

1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. i. iii. 39 If..the essential qualities..be really occult, or incapable of being expressed in any form intelligible to our understandings.

1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. 430 The occult suasion of the rhyme.

1925 J. M. Murry Keats & Shakespeare v. 57 That is an indication of Keats' own awareness that the connection between his expressed thought and his true poetic thought is so occult that Bailey will be baffled.

1961 J. Heller Catch-22 xx. 202 For a few precarious seconds, the chaplain tingled with a weird, occult sensation of having experienced the identical situation before in some prior..existence.

1979 C. Reid Arcadia (BNC) 21 Flying to Vegas, there we struck What seemed, to foreign eyes, to be Some occult empire of ennui.

†b. Of a thing or phenomenon: not affecting, or detectable by, the senses; imperceptible. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > ability to be perceived by senses > [adjective] > (naturally) imperceptible to senses

unperceptiblea1398

unperceivable?a1475

imperceptible1536

undiscernable1586

imperceivablea1617

undiscernible1624

occult1650

unperceptable1678

imperceptive1722

supersensible1795

subsensible1858

supersensory1883

1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 170 The dissipation of those things which constitute our body, being occult and a thing which escapes the reach of our senses.

1743 W. Ellis Suppl. to London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) 297 There..ensues an occult Commotion upon first mixing it (tho' apparent enough soon after).

1876 S. Birch Rede Lect. Egypt 20 Amen at Thebes, the occult or unseen God hidden in the powers and operations of nature.

c. Science (now historical). Of a property or matter: not manifest to direct observation; discoverable only by experiment; unexplained; latent. Also: †dealing with such qualities, experimental (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > [adjective] > empirical

experimental1526

empiric1576

empirical1588

experimentate1651

occulta1652

empiric1772

rule of thumb1816

empiricist1864

practico-empirical1913

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > systematic knowledge, science > [adjective] > kinds of

philosophical?a1513

mixed1605

pure1605

occulta1652

applied1832

statistical1885

marine scientific1937

soft1966

a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) x. iii. 465 Those natural Antipathies..being nothing else but Occult qualities, or Natural instincts.

1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. ii. §14 It will be the least of all pardonable in the exploders of substantiall forms and occult qualities, when the Origine of the whole world is resolved into an occult quality which gives motion to Atoms.

1671 J. Webster Metallographia ii. 26 Others experimentally knew something in this occult Science.

1717 J. Keill Ess. Animal Oecon. (ed. 2) 92 How the Blood came first by its Motion..I leave to be determined by the occult Philosophers.

1718 I. Newton Opticks (ed. 2) iii. i. 377 The Aristotelians gave the Name of occult Qualities..to such Qualities..as they supposed to lie hid in Bodies, and to be the unknown Causes of manifest Effects.

1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. ii. 60 Occult Powers, known in Nature, but unknown and unseen by vulgar Heads and Eyes.

1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xii. 212 He accuses him of reviving the occult qualities of the schools.

1996 Isis 87 170/2 Chapter 2 continues the theme of objectivity with a good discussion of the ancient and Renaissance roots of the idea of a subvisible world and the ensuing debates over manifest and occult qualities.

a. Hidden from sight; concealed (by something interposed); not exposed to view.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [adjective] > hidden

dighela1000

dernc1000

wriena1250

privyc1300

unshewedc1386

wrapped1398

quatc1425

tectc1440

blinda1522

coucheda1522

dark1532

lurkingc1540

velated1542

hiddena1547

inclusive1554

concealed1558

secret1559

occult1567

disguised1594

occulted1598

derned1600

shrouded1600

latent1605

abstrused1608

supposed1608

unshown1614

enshielda1616

retruse1623

dissembled1631

researched1636

recondite1649

delitescent1653

larved1654

tected1657

bedilt1660

bosomed1667

inhidden1674

underground1677

abditive1727

secreted1756

unextruded1808

unprotruded1812

undisplayed1822

larvated1832

dissimulated1838

latescent1852

squat1956

1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest Pref. sig. Avij^v Mettalles..are nothing else but the earths hid & occult Plants.

1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vi. §2. 194 It joyneth it self unto other seas..through some occult passages under ground.

1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. i. 7 The lesser of the two said Appendents lies occult between the two Lobes of the Bean.

1697 in J. Cameron Argyll Justiciary Rec. (1949) I. 159 He brought him to the syde of that moor..being a darned reteired and ocult place.

1795 T. Maurice Hist. Hindostan (1820) I. i. vii. 214 The stars of the hydra..became occult when the sun rose.

1850 D. G. Rossetti Blessed Damozel in Germ Feb. 81 We two will stand beside that shrine, Occult, withheld, untrod.

1980 O. S. Nock G.W.R. Stars, Castles & Kings (new ed.) xxiii. 292/1 While occult from the gaze of most of us, I know that there is a much honoured symbol of the best in British steam locomotive practice.

1995 D. Carey & J. I. Kirkland First Frontier iv. xxxvii. 360 Spock's face was occult with shadows.

b. Medicine. Of a disease: hidden, concealed, difficult to detect; unaccompanied by readily discernible signs or symptoms; spec. designating a primary neoplasm that is initially detected only indirectly, esp. by its metastases. Formerly (also): †inexplicable, obscure (obsolete).

ΘΚΠ

the world > life > the body > system > [adjective] > organ > types of functions

occult1651

systolic1653

rhythmic1826

rhythmical1829

involuntary1840

the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [adjective] > without symptoms

silent1621

occult1651

latent1665

latic1684

symptomless1886

larval1897

non-clinical1913

subclinical1916

asymptomatic1932

1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces 136 Those that are of a strong constitution, and a midle age, and of a sound heart, may safely use this purge, whereby stomach-agues, belly-worms, and many other occult diseases may be cured with good success.

1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Cancer It is call'd an Occult, Latent, or Blind Cancer, but when bigger and open'd, it bears the Name of an Ulcerated Cancer.

1809 R. Carmichael Ess. Effects Carbonate & Other Prepar. Iron upon Cancer iv. 292 Three of these lucky People had occult Cancers of the Breast, and a fourth had an occult cancer of the Lip.

1820 R. Hooper Lexicon-medicum (ed. 4) 623/2 Occult quality, a term that has been much used by writers that had not clear ideas of what they undertook to explain; and which served therefore only for a cover to their ignorance.

1854 W. E. Swaine tr. C. von Rokitansky Man. Pathol. Anat. I. ix. 260 This process takes place either in the depths of the growth, in a shut place, as so-termed occult cancer; or upon the free surface of the body or of a mucous cavity, as so-called apert or open cancer.

1872 D. C. Black On Functional Dis. Renal Organs ii. 108 The condition to which Dr. Barnes has applied the term occult menstruation... Owing to the imperforate condition of the hymen, the menstrual flux accumulates in the cul de sac..formed by the upper portion of the vagina.

1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Pathol. xvii. 458 Occult carcinoma of the prostate is a frequent finding at autopsy in persons who have died from other causes.

1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 167/1 Careful palpation sometimes dicloses occult spina bifida and close inspection may reveal the small pit of a dermal sinus opening at or near the midline.

1973 Q. Jrnl. Med. 42 125 (heading) Occult rickets and osteomalacia amongst the Asian immigrant population.

1988 New Scientist 29 Sept. 43/2 Forty-three pregnancies failed after implantation. Those pregnancies, known as ‘occult abortions’, would not have been detected by conventional tests.

1990 Brain 113 1273 The weight loss had led to the suspicion of an occult malignancy and a resulting paraneoplastic syndrome, but at the time of lumbar puncture no evidence for such was apparent.

1993 Jrnl. Trop. Pediatrics 39 11/2 Reports from Nigeria have usually highlighted the preponderance of malaria..and are silent on the role, if any, of occult bacteraemia.

†c. Of a line, etc.: drawn as an aid in the construction of a figure, but intended to be erased or covered; (also) dotted. Obsolete.

ΘΚΠ

society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [adjective] > applied to a line

occult1652

1652 T. Stirrup Horometria 112 First draw the Horizontall line A B, wherein make choice of a center as at C, whereon describe an occult arch of a Circle as BE.

1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 139/2 Occult or White Line; is a Line drawn out by points or pricks.

1703 Moxon's Mech. Dyalling (ed. 4) in Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 324 Describe an occult Arch.

1731 W. Halfpenny Perspective made Easy 2 Draw the Occult Lines EA, = EB.

1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 559 Occult arcs, or such as are to be rubbed out again.

B. n.

†1. A hidden or secret thing. Obsolete. rare.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [noun] > something concealed, a secret

derna1000

counsel1377

secrec1386

dernheada1400

secretnessc1425

secrecyc1450

secret1450

concealment1598

reservation1612

cabal1631

recess1646

occult1648

reserve1680

state secret1822

reserving1844

inédit1910

1648 S. H. Knaves & Fooles in Folio 5 Fooles know, it's not words, or expressions, or oculars define, but things, natures, intentions, intrinsiques, and occults.

1656 S. Hunton Golden Law 70 Its Natures, and not Names; its occults, and not occulars, entitle to the title King.

2. With the. The realm of the unknown; the supernatural world or its influences, manifestations, etc.; (collectively) magic, alchemy, astrology, and other practical arts of a secret or mysterious nature (see A. 1b). Cf. occultism n.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the supernatural > the occult > [noun]

occulta1888

a1888 J. B. Stephens Universally Respected in Austral. Poets 1788–1888 (1888) 499 There were forces supersensual that higher were and stronger, And with consentaneous clamour we pronounced for the occult.

1900 J. Jastrow Fact & Fable in Psychol. ii. ii. 57 The supernormal, transcendent, undiscovered world of the occult shines through..the commonplace, constrained phenomena of earth-bound reality.

1957 E. Jones Sigmund Freud III. xiv. 411 Ferenczi's belief in the occult was also certainly stronger than Freud's.

1991 Healing & Wholeness Jan. 42/2 His literature revealed that he was into every kind of religious sect and cult, including the occult, and all sorts of fringe groups.

Compounds

occult bleeding n. [after German Okkulte(magen)blutung (I. Boas 1901, in Deutsch. Med. Wochenschr. 16 May 315/2) < okkult occult + Magen stomach (see maw n.¹) + Blutung bleeding] Medicine haemorrhage, esp. in the gastrointestinal tract, that results in occult blood.

ΚΠ

1904 Progressive Med. 4 24 Occult bleeding in the cases of ulcer was most frequently observed when the patient had recently complained of pain in the stomach.

1973 Lancet 4 Aug. 262/1 Occult bleeding in the alimentary tract.

1998 Dis. Colon & Rectum 41 1187 Gastrointestinal neurofibromas may cause occult bleeding, luminal obstruction, or intussusception.

occult blood n. Medicine blood, esp. in faeces or stomach contents, that is present in an amount too small to be visible, and that is detectable only by chemical or other laboratory tests.

ΚΠ

1904 Progressive Med. 4 24 Occult blood is constantly found in cancer of the gastrointestinal tract.

1936 E. N. Chamberlain Symptoms & Signs Clin. Med. xii. 387 The most important chemical test applicable in the clinic room is that for occult blood.

1962 Lancet 1 Dec. 1145/1 Orthotoluidine sampling of these motions was strongly positive for occult blood.

1991 Family Pract. 8 368/1 Only 10% of patients presenting with symptomatic bowel cancer have a Dukes grade A tumour whilst 50% of all lesions detected by faecal occult blood (FOB) screening are at this stage.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

occultv.

Brit.

/əˈkʌlt/,

/ˈɒkʌlt/, U.S.

/əˈkəlt/

Forms: late Middle English occulte, 1500s 1700s– occult.

Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin occultāre.

Etymology: < classical Latin occultāre to hide, conceal, also in astronomical sense, frequentative of occulere to cover up, hide, conceal (see occult adj.). Compare Old Occitan ocultar , Middle French, French occulter (beginning of the 14th cent. in Old French in sense 1a, 1499 in sense 1b), Italian occultare (a1306), Spanish ocultar (c1440), Catalan ocultar (1460), Portuguese ocultar (16th cent.). Compare slightly earlier occult adj.

a. transitive. To hide, conceal; to cut off from view by interposing something. Also figurative.

ΘΚΠ

the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, conceal [verb (transitive)]

heeleOE

forhelec888

i-hedec888

dernc893

hidec897

wryOE

behelec1000

behidec1000

bewryc1000

forhidec1000

overheleOE

hilla1250

fealc1325

cover1340

forcover1382

blinda1400

hulsterc1400

overclosec1400

concealc1425

shroud1426

blend1430

close1430

shadow1436

obumber?1440

mufflea1450

alaynec1450

mew?c1450

purloin1461

to keep close?1471

oversilec1478

bewrap1481

supprime1490

occulta1500

silec1500

smoor1513

shadec1530

skleir1532

oppressa1538

hudder-mudder1544

pretex1548

lap?c1550

absconce1570

to steek away1575

couch1577

recondite1578

huddle1581

mew1581

enshrine1582

enshroud1582

mask1582

veil1582

abscondc1586

smotherc1592

blot1593

sheathe1594

immask1595

secret1595

bemist1598

palliate1598

hoodwinka1600

overmaska1600

hugger1600

obscure1600

upwrap1600

undisclose1601

disguise1605

screen1611

underfold1612

huke1613

eclipsea1616

encavea1616

ensconcea1616

obscurify1622

cloud1623

inmewa1625

beclouda1631

pretext1634

covert1647

sconce1652

tapisa1660

shun1661

sneak1701

overlay1719

secrete1741

blank1764

submerge1796

slur1813

wrap1817

buttress1820

stifle1820

disidentify1845

to stick away1900

a1500 tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life (Worcester) 47 (MED) So that we may have knowlache how we may knowe god and to teche our neighburghs; nat to be holde wise of the people, save rather to occulte our science than to shewe it to commendacioun of oursilf.

1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Bij^v The same water occulteth and hydeth the pymples..in the face.

1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. xvii b/1 The vise which is occultede in the end of the handle.

1830 Fraser's Mag. 1 745 Knowing where the cat was occulted.

1870 R. A. Proctor Other Worlds than Ours vi. 152 The sun is occulted in the forenoon and afternoon but free from eclipse in the middle of the day.

1887 W. M. Rossetti Life Keats viii. 153 Nor was his personality by any means occulted.

1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia vi. 61 In both the gaonera and the mariposa the man's body is fully exposed in front of the bull's face, and not occulted by the cloth lure.

1985 G. T. Nurse et al. Peoples of Southern Afr. iii. 71 Any fluctuations..in the sizes of their populations have either occurred too long ago to have been remembered, or have been occulted by the cultural impetus to claim membership of other population groups than their own.

1998 Guardian 17 Apr. ii. 14/2 The public appearances of gay culture have traditionally been occulted, meticulously disguised and coded.

b. transitive. Astronomy. Of a celestial object: to conceal (an apparently smaller object) from view by passing or being in front. Cf. occultation n. 2b, eclipse v. 2.

ΘΚΠ

the world > the universe > heavenly body > [verb (transitive)] > eclipse

clipse1398

eclipsec1485

clipc1500

enclipse1606

occult1765

1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 54 391 The Virgin's spike was occulted by the ☽ this night.

1872 R. A. Proctor Ess. Astron. iii. 43 The epochs when the moon occults stars or when Jupiter's satellites are eclipsed or occulted.

1907 Westm. Gaz. 26 Sept. 10/1 The moon in her monthly journey often eclipses (or occults) stars that happen to lie in her track.

1992 Astronomy June 51 If you've never seen Neptune, a good chance occurs on the evening of June 16/17 when the nearly full Moon occults the distant planet.

2. intransitive. Of a lighthouse light: to be cut off from view as part of its cycle of light and dark.

ΘΚΠ

the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > intercepting or cutting off of light > be intercepted or cut off [verb (intransitive)]

occult1852

1852 C. Babbage Notes Lighthouses 21 If it is thought desirable..that it should occult, so as to indicate its number, the plan already described might be applied.

1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 464/1 The light occults every ten seconds,..the occultations being actuated by a double valve arrangement.

1964 J. Masters Trial at Monomoy i. 15 Close on the north the lighthouse tower edged into the view... That light occulted every four seconds.

This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022).

单词	occult
释义	occultadj.n. Brit. /əˈkʌlt/, /ˈɒkʌlt/, U.S. /əˈkəlt/ Forms: 1500s–1600s occulte, 1500s– occult; Scottish pre-1700 ocult, pre-1700 1700s– occult. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymons: Latin occultus, occulere. Etymology: < classical Latin occultus secret, hidden from the understanding, hidden, concealed, past participle of occulere to cover up, hide, conceal < ob- ob- prefix + a stem of which a lengthened form is seen in cēlāre to hide (see cele v.) < the same Indo-European base as heel v.¹ Compare Anglo-Norman and Middle French, French occulte secret (first half of the 12th cent. in Anglo-Norman; also in Anglo-Norman as oculte (first half of the 12th cent.)), Italian occulto (1308), Spanish oculto (1438), Catalan ocult (1481), Portuguese oculto (16th cent.). With use as noun compare classical Latin occulta secrets, use as noun of neuter plural of occultus (see above), and French occulte secret thing (1821). Compare slightly later occult v.With occult philosophy (see quot. 1651 at sense A. 1b) compare post-classical Latin occulta philosophia , title of a work by H. C. Agrippa (1531), and French philosophie occulte (1603 or earlier). With occult sciences (see quots. 1711 at sense A. 1b, 1903 at sense A. 1b) compare French sciences occultes (1690). With occult qualities (see sense A. 2c) compare French qualités occultes (1677). With occult disease (see sense A. 3b) compare classical Latin occulti morbi , plural (Pliny). With occult line (see sense A. 3c) compare French ligne occulte (1690). A. adj. 1. a. Not disclosed or divulged, secret; kept secret; communicated only to the initiated. Now rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective] > kept secret, esoteric occult1480 secret1526 acroamatical1579 acroamatic1635 acroatic1656 esoteric1660 esoterical1850 1480 Curia Sapiencie (Caxton) sig e iij^v These artycles..Dame feyth her self gan telle..With al the secretes of the deyte Whiche in Englysshe not reherced be Suche thyng as shold be pryuate & occult I rede we leue, and take quicumque vult. a1513 J. Irland Meroure of Wyssdome (1926) I. 128 His fyrst cummyne was occult & secret. c1540 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. i. xiv. 78 Began to rise Ilk day occult slauchteris and cruelteis in his ciete. 1621 R. Burton Anat. Melancholy iii. ii. ii. v. 591 Such occult notes, Stenography, Polygraphy, [etc.]. 1655 H. L'Estrange Reign King Charles 60 By occult interests of State. 1673 J. Ray Observ. Journey Low-countries 255 These suffrages are all occult, that is, given by putting of balls into balloting-boxes. 1741 C. Middleton Hist. Life Cicero I. vi. 457 Ancient and occult sacrifices were polluted. 1789 J. Bentham Introd. Princ. Morals & Legisl. Pref. 5 Those philosophers of antiquity, who are represented as having held two bodies of doctrine, a popular and an occult one. 1841 I. D'Israeli Amenities Lit. I. 323 Printing remained..a secret and occult art. 1885 R. Bridges Eros & Psyche v. iii. 54 Of their plots occult [they] Sat whispering on their beds. 1990 A. Tomlinson et al. Consumption, Identity & Style (1991) (BNC) 153 Although couched in the typically occult language of the time, Garland's prescient account [in his notorious homosexual novel of 1953 The Heart in Exile] catches society at a crossroads. b. Of or relating to magic, alchemy, astrology, theosophy, or other practical arts held to involve agencies of a secret or mysterious nature; of the nature of such an art; dealing with or versed in such matters; magical. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > [adjective] curiousc1384 mystical1516 cabbalisticala1593 occult1593 hermetical1605 cabbalistic1625 hermetica1637 adeptical1662 trismegistic1678 trismegistical1678 trismegistian1694 Sibylline1817 Sibyllica1849 occultist1893 widdershins1926 1593 G. Harvey Pierces Supererogation 162 Occult Philosophers, wrap-vp their profoundest..mysteries in the..closest intrals of an Asse. a1634 W. Austin Devotionis Augustinianæ Flamma (1635) 249 Much vertue and power is attributed to these..by the Occult Philosophers. 1651 J. Freake (title) Three books of occult philosophy, written by Henry Cornelius Agrippa..Translated out of the Latin into the English tongue. 1711 Ld. Shaftesbury Characteristicks III. Misc. ii. i. 53 From this Parent-Country of occult Sciences..he was presum'd..to have learnt..judicial Astrology. 1797 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 24 509 Agrippa and his friends had a taste for the occult sciences, for alchemy, divination, dæmonurgy, and astrology. 1832 W. Irving Alhambra I. 216 A beetle of baked clay, covered with Arabic inscriptions, which was pronounced a prodigious amulet of occult virtues. 1863 D. Wilson Prehistoric Ann. Scotl. (ed. 2) II. iv. iii. 257 A charm, or occult sign. 1884 H. Jennings Phallicism xiii. 133 An assertion of the occult philosophers. 1903 F. L. Gardner (title) A Catalogue raisonné of works on the occult sciences. 1961 A. Christie Pale Horse v. 64 She's very occult... Goes in for spiritualism and trances, and magic. Not quite black masses, but that sort of thing. 1993 Times 29 July 5/1 Sales of horror and occult books are stronger than ever. 2. a. Not apprehended, or not apprehensible, by the mind; beyond ordinary understanding or knowledge; abstruse, mysterious; inexplicable. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > a profound secret, mystery > [adjective] secrec1386 mystica1398 mystical1516 dark1532 arcane1547 occulta1549 shadowish1561 abstruse1576 cryptical1588 shrouded (also involved, wrapped) in mysterya1616 mysterious1622 mysterial1630 cryptica1638 researched1653 rarefied1662 arcanalc1828 sphinx-like1837 sphinxine1845 abstrusive1848 Sphingine1925 a1549 A. Borde Fyrst Bk. Introd. Knowl. (1870) Forewords 25 To pronostycate any mater of the occulte iugements of god. 1597 King James VI & I Daemonologie (1924) 44 He is farre cunningner then man in the knowledge of all the occult properties of nature. 1661 J. Glanvill Vanity of Dogmatizing iii. 26 Some secret Art of the Soul, which to us is utterly occult, and without the ken of our Intellects. 1751 S. Johnson Rambler No. 160. ⁋8 Some have..an occult power of stealing upon the affections. 1830 J. F. W. Herschel Prelim. Disc. Study Nat. Philos. i. iii. 39 If..the essential qualities..be really occult, or incapable of being expressed in any form intelligible to our understandings. 1856 D. Masson Ess. Biogr. & Crit. 430 The occult suasion of the rhyme. 1925 J. M. Murry Keats & Shakespeare v. 57 That is an indication of Keats' own awareness that the connection between his expressed thought and his true poetic thought is so occult that Bailey will be baffled. 1961 J. Heller Catch-22 xx. 202 For a few precarious seconds, the chaplain tingled with a weird, occult sensation of having experienced the identical situation before in some prior..existence. 1979 C. Reid Arcadia (BNC) 21 Flying to Vegas, there we struck What seemed, to foreign eyes, to be Some occult empire of ennui. †b. Of a thing or phenomenon: not affecting, or detectable by, the senses; imperceptible. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ the world > physical sensation > physical sensibility > ability to be perceived by senses > [adjective] > (naturally) imperceptible to senses unperceptiblea1398 unperceivable?a1475 imperceptible1536 undiscernable1586 imperceivablea1617 undiscernible1624 occult1650 unperceptable1678 imperceptive1722 supersensible1795 subsensible1858 supersensory1883 1650 J. Bulwer Anthropometamorphosis 170 The dissipation of those things which constitute our body, being occult and a thing which escapes the reach of our senses. 1743 W. Ellis Suppl. to London & Country Brewer (ed. 2) 297 There..ensues an occult Commotion upon first mixing it (tho' apparent enough soon after). 1876 S. Birch Rede Lect. Egypt 20 Amen at Thebes, the occult or unseen God hidden in the powers and operations of nature. c. Science (now historical). Of a property or matter: not manifest to direct observation; discoverable only by experiment; unexplained; latent. Also: †dealing with such qualities, experimental (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > action or operation > endeavour > trial or experiment > [adjective] > empirical experimental1526 empiric1576 empirical1588 experimentate1651 occulta1652 empiric1772 rule of thumb1816 empiricist1864 practico-empirical1913 the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > branch of knowledge > systematic knowledge, science > [adjective] > kinds of philosophical?a1513 mixed1605 pure1605 occulta1652 applied1832 statistical1885 marine scientific1937 soft1966 a1652 J. Smith Select Disc. (1660) x. iii. 465 Those natural Antipathies..being nothing else but Occult qualities, or Natural instincts. 1662 E. Stillingfleet Origines Sacræ iii. ii. §14 It will be the least of all pardonable in the exploders of substantiall forms and occult qualities, when the Origine of the whole world is resolved into an occult quality which gives motion to Atoms. 1671 J. Webster Metallographia ii. 26 Others experimentally knew something in this occult Science. 1717 J. Keill Ess. Animal Oecon. (ed. 2) 92 How the Blood came first by its Motion..I leave to be determined by the occult Philosophers. 1718 I. Newton Opticks (ed. 2) iii. i. 377 The Aristotelians gave the Name of occult Qualities..to such Qualities..as they supposed to lie hid in Bodies, and to be the unknown Causes of manifest Effects. 1727 D. Defoe Syst. Magick i. ii. 60 Occult Powers, known in Nature, but unknown and unseen by vulgar Heads and Eyes. 1831 D. Brewster Life I. Newton xii. 212 He accuses him of reviving the occult qualities of the schools. 1996 Isis 87 170/2 Chapter 2 continues the theme of objectivity with a good discussion of the ancient and Renaissance roots of the idea of a subvisible world and the ensuing debates over manifest and occult qualities. 3. a. Hidden from sight; concealed (by something interposed); not exposed to view. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > [adjective] > hidden dighela1000 dernc1000 wriena1250 privyc1300 unshewedc1386 wrapped1398 quatc1425 tectc1440 blinda1522 coucheda1522 dark1532 lurkingc1540 velated1542 hiddena1547 inclusive1554 concealed1558 secret1559 occult1567 disguised1594 occulted1598 derned1600 shrouded1600 latent1605 abstrused1608 supposed1608 unshown1614 enshielda1616 retruse1623 dissembled1631 researched1636 recondite1649 delitescent1653 larved1654 tected1657 bedilt1660 bosomed1667 inhidden1674 underground1677 abditive1727 secreted1756 unextruded1808 unprotruded1812 undisplayed1822 larvated1832 dissimulated1838 latescent1852 squat1956 1567 J. Maplet Greene Forest Pref. sig. Avij^v Mettalles..are nothing else but the earths hid & occult Plants. 1635 J. Swan Speculum Mundi vi. §2. 194 It joyneth it self unto other seas..through some occult passages under ground. 1672 N. Grew Anat. Veg. i. 7 The lesser of the two said Appendents lies occult between the two Lobes of the Bean. 1697 in J. Cameron Argyll Justiciary Rec. (1949) I. 159 He brought him to the syde of that moor..being a darned reteired and ocult place. 1795 T. Maurice Hist. Hindostan (1820) I. i. vii. 214 The stars of the hydra..became occult when the sun rose. 1850 D. G. Rossetti Blessed Damozel in Germ Feb. 81 We two will stand beside that shrine, Occult, withheld, untrod. 1980 O. S. Nock G.W.R. Stars, Castles & Kings (new ed.) xxiii. 292/1 While occult from the gaze of most of us, I know that there is a much honoured symbol of the best in British steam locomotive practice. 1995 D. Carey & J. I. Kirkland First Frontier iv. xxxvii. 360 Spock's face was occult with shadows. b. Medicine. Of a disease: hidden, concealed, difficult to detect; unaccompanied by readily discernible signs or symptoms; spec. designating a primary neoplasm that is initially detected only indirectly, esp. by its metastases. Formerly (also): †inexplicable, obscure (obsolete). ΘΚΠ the world > life > the body > system > [adjective] > organ > types of functions occult1651 systolic1653 rhythmic1826 rhythmical1829 involuntary1840 the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > symptom > [adjective] > without symptoms silent1621 occult1651 latent1665 latic1684 symptomless1886 larval1897 non-clinical1913 subclinical1916 asymptomatic1932 1651 J. French tr. J. R. Glauber Descr. New Philos. Furnaces 136 Those that are of a strong constitution, and a midle age, and of a sound heart, may safely use this purge, whereby stomach-agues, belly-worms, and many other occult diseases may be cured with good success. 1706 Phillips's New World of Words (new ed.) at Cancer It is call'd an Occult, Latent, or Blind Cancer, but when bigger and open'd, it bears the Name of an Ulcerated Cancer. 1809 R. Carmichael Ess. Effects Carbonate & Other Prepar. Iron upon Cancer iv. 292 Three of these lucky People had occult Cancers of the Breast, and a fourth had an occult cancer of the Lip. 1820 R. Hooper Lexicon-medicum (ed. 4) 623/2 Occult quality, a term that has been much used by writers that had not clear ideas of what they undertook to explain; and which served therefore only for a cover to their ignorance. 1854 W. E. Swaine tr. C. von Rokitansky Man. Pathol. Anat. I. ix. 260 This process takes place either in the depths of the growth, in a shut place, as so-termed occult cancer; or upon the free surface of the body or of a mucous cavity, as so-called apert or open cancer. 1872 D. C. Black On Functional Dis. Renal Organs ii. 108 The condition to which Dr. Barnes has applied the term occult menstruation... Owing to the imperforate condition of the hymen, the menstrual flux accumulates in the cul de sac..formed by the upper portion of the vagina. 1961 R. D. Baker Essent. Pathol. xvii. 458 Occult carcinoma of the prostate is a frequent finding at autopsy in persons who have died from other causes. 1968 Jrnl. Pediatrics 73 167/1 Careful palpation sometimes dicloses occult spina bifida and close inspection may reveal the small pit of a dermal sinus opening at or near the midline. 1973 Q. Jrnl. Med. 42 125 (heading) Occult rickets and osteomalacia amongst the Asian immigrant population. 1988 New Scientist 29 Sept. 43/2 Forty-three pregnancies failed after implantation. Those pregnancies, known as ‘occult abortions’, would not have been detected by conventional tests. 1990 Brain 113 1273 The weight loss had led to the suspicion of an occult malignancy and a resulting paraneoplastic syndrome, but at the time of lumbar puncture no evidence for such was apparent. 1993 Jrnl. Trop. Pediatrics 39 11/2 Reports from Nigeria have usually highlighted the preponderance of malaria..and are silent on the role, if any, of occult bacteraemia. †c. Of a line, etc.: drawn as an aid in the construction of a figure, but intended to be erased or covered; (also) dotted. Obsolete. ΘΚΠ society > communication > representation > a plastic or graphic representation > graphic representation > drawing lines > [adjective] > applied to a line occult1652 1652 T. Stirrup Horometria 112 First draw the Horizontall line A B, wherein make choice of a center as at C, whereon describe an occult arch of a Circle as BE. 1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 139/2 Occult or White Line; is a Line drawn out by points or pricks. 1703 Moxon's Mech. Dyalling (ed. 4) in Moxon's Mech. Exercises (new ed.) 324 Describe an occult Arch. 1731 W. Halfpenny Perspective made Easy 2 Draw the Occult Lines EA, = EB. 1823 P. Nicholson New Pract. Builder 559 Occult arcs, or such as are to be rubbed out again. B. n. †1. A hidden or secret thing. Obsolete. rare. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > secrecy, concealment > [noun] > something concealed, a secret derna1000 counsel1377 secrec1386 dernheada1400 secretnessc1425 secrecyc1450 secret1450 concealment1598 reservation1612 cabal1631 recess1646 occult1648 reserve1680 state secret1822 reserving1844 inédit1910 1648 S. H. Knaves & Fooles in Folio 5 Fooles know, it's not words, or expressions, or oculars define, but things, natures, intentions, intrinsiques, and occults. 1656 S. Hunton Golden Law 70 Its Natures, and not Names; its occults, and not occulars, entitle to the title King. 2. With the. The realm of the unknown; the supernatural world or its influences, manifestations, etc.; (collectively) magic, alchemy, astrology, and other practical arts of a secret or mysterious nature (see A. 1b). Cf. occultism n. ΘΚΠ the world > the supernatural > the occult > [noun] occulta1888 a1888 J. B. Stephens Universally Respected in Austral. Poets 1788–1888 (1888) 499 There were forces supersensual that higher were and stronger, And with consentaneous clamour we pronounced for the occult. 1900 J. Jastrow Fact & Fable in Psychol. ii. ii. 57 The supernormal, transcendent, undiscovered world of the occult shines through..the commonplace, constrained phenomena of earth-bound reality. 1957 E. Jones Sigmund Freud III. xiv. 411 Ferenczi's belief in the occult was also certainly stronger than Freud's. 1991 Healing & Wholeness Jan. 42/2 His literature revealed that he was into every kind of religious sect and cult, including the occult, and all sorts of fringe groups. Compounds occult bleeding n. [after German Okkulte(magen)blutung (I. Boas 1901, in Deutsch. Med. Wochenschr. 16 May 315/2) < okkult occult + Magen stomach (see maw n.¹) + Blutung bleeding] Medicine haemorrhage, esp. in the gastrointestinal tract, that results in occult blood. ΚΠ 1904 Progressive Med. 4 24 Occult bleeding in the cases of ulcer was most frequently observed when the patient had recently complained of pain in the stomach. 1973 Lancet 4 Aug. 262/1 Occult bleeding in the alimentary tract. 1998 Dis. Colon & Rectum 41 1187 Gastrointestinal neurofibromas may cause occult bleeding, luminal obstruction, or intussusception. occult blood n. Medicine blood, esp. in faeces or stomach contents, that is present in an amount too small to be visible, and that is detectable only by chemical or other laboratory tests. ΚΠ 1904 Progressive Med. 4 24 Occult blood is constantly found in cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. 1936 E. N. Chamberlain Symptoms & Signs Clin. Med. xii. 387 The most important chemical test applicable in the clinic room is that for occult blood. 1962 Lancet 1 Dec. 1145/1 Orthotoluidine sampling of these motions was strongly positive for occult blood. 1991 Family Pract. 8 368/1 Only 10% of patients presenting with symptomatic bowel cancer have a Dukes grade A tumour whilst 50% of all lesions detected by faecal occult blood (FOB) screening are at this stage. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). occultv. Brit. /əˈkʌlt/, /ˈɒkʌlt/, U.S. /əˈkəlt/ Forms: late Middle English occulte, 1500s 1700s– occult. Origin: A borrowing from Latin. Etymon: Latin occultāre. Etymology: < classical Latin occultāre to hide, conceal, also in astronomical sense, frequentative of occulere to cover up, hide, conceal (see occult adj.). Compare Old Occitan ocultar , Middle French, French occulter (beginning of the 14th cent. in Old French in sense 1a, 1499 in sense 1b), Italian occultare (a1306), Spanish ocultar (c1440), Catalan ocultar (1460), Portuguese ocultar (16th cent.). Compare slightly earlier occult adj. 1. a. transitive. To hide, conceal; to cut off from view by interposing something. Also figurative. ΘΚΠ the mind > mental capacity > knowledge > hiding, concealing from view > hide, conceal [verb (transitive)] heeleOE forhelec888 i-hedec888 dernc893 hidec897 wryOE behelec1000 behidec1000 bewryc1000 forhidec1000 overheleOE hilla1250 fealc1325 cover1340 forcover1382 blinda1400 hulsterc1400 overclosec1400 concealc1425 shroud1426 blend1430 close1430 shadow1436 obumber?1440 mufflea1450 alaynec1450 mew?c1450 purloin1461 to keep close?1471 oversilec1478 bewrap1481 supprime1490 occulta1500 silec1500 smoor1513 shadec1530 skleir1532 oppressa1538 hudder-mudder1544 pretex1548 lap?c1550 absconce1570 to steek away1575 couch1577 recondite1578 huddle1581 mew1581 enshrine1582 enshroud1582 mask1582 veil1582 abscondc1586 smotherc1592 blot1593 sheathe1594 immask1595 secret1595 bemist1598 palliate1598 hoodwinka1600 overmaska1600 hugger1600 obscure1600 upwrap1600 undisclose1601 disguise1605 screen1611 underfold1612 huke1613 eclipsea1616 encavea1616 ensconcea1616 obscurify1622 cloud1623 inmewa1625 beclouda1631 pretext1634 covert1647 sconce1652 tapisa1660 shun1661 sneak1701 overlay1719 secrete1741 blank1764 submerge1796 slur1813 wrap1817 buttress1820 stifle1820 disidentify1845 to stick away1900 a1500 tr. R. Rolle Mending of Life (Worcester) 47 (MED) So that we may have knowlache how we may knowe god and to teche our neighburghs; nat to be holde wise of the people, save rather to occulte our science than to shewe it to commendacioun of oursilf. 1527 L. Andrewe tr. H. Brunschwig Vertuose Boke Distyllacyon sig. Bij^v The same water occulteth and hydeth the pymples..in the face. 1598 A. M. tr. J. Guillemeau Frenche Chirurg. xvii b/1 The vise which is occultede in the end of the handle. 1830 Fraser's Mag. 1 745 Knowing where the cat was occulted. 1870 R. A. Proctor Other Worlds than Ours vi. 152 The sun is occulted in the forenoon and afternoon but free from eclipse in the middle of the day. 1887 W. M. Rossetti Life Keats viii. 153 Nor was his personality by any means occulted. 1957 A. MacNab Bulls of Iberia vi. 61 In both the gaonera and the mariposa the man's body is fully exposed in front of the bull's face, and not occulted by the cloth lure. 1985 G. T. Nurse et al. Peoples of Southern Afr. iii. 71 Any fluctuations..in the sizes of their populations have either occurred too long ago to have been remembered, or have been occulted by the cultural impetus to claim membership of other population groups than their own. 1998 Guardian 17 Apr. ii. 14/2 The public appearances of gay culture have traditionally been occulted, meticulously disguised and coded. b. transitive. Astronomy. Of a celestial object: to conceal (an apparently smaller object) from view by passing or being in front. Cf. occultation n. 2b, eclipse v. 2. ΘΚΠ the world > the universe > heavenly body > [verb (transitive)] > eclipse clipse1398 eclipsec1485 clipc1500 enclipse1606 occult1765 1765 Philos. Trans. 1764 (Royal Soc.) 54 391 The Virgin's spike was occulted by the ☽ this night. 1872 R. A. Proctor Ess. Astron. iii. 43 The epochs when the moon occults stars or when Jupiter's satellites are eclipsed or occulted. 1907 Westm. Gaz. 26 Sept. 10/1 The moon in her monthly journey often eclipses (or occults) stars that happen to lie in her track. 1992 Astronomy June 51 If you've never seen Neptune, a good chance occurs on the evening of June 16/17 when the nearly full Moon occults the distant planet. 2. intransitive. Of a lighthouse light: to be cut off from view as part of its cycle of light and dark. ΘΚΠ the world > matter > light > darkness or absence of light > intercepting or cutting off of light > be intercepted or cut off [verb (intransitive)] occult1852 1852 C. Babbage Notes Lighthouses 21 If it is thought desirable..that it should occult, so as to indicate its number, the plan already described might be applied. 1902 Encycl. Brit. XXVI. 464/1 The light occults every ten seconds,..the occultations being actuated by a double valve arrangement. 1964 J. Masters Trial at Monomoy i. 15 Close on the north the lighthouse tower edged into the view... That light occulted every four seconds. This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2004; most recently modified version published online March 2022). < adj.n.1480v.a1500
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