occult

English

WOTD – 14 January 2010

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɒk.ʌlt/, /əˈkʌlt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /əˈkʌlt/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʌlt

Verb

occult (third-person singular simple present occults, present participle occulting, simple past and past participle occulted)

1. (transitive, astronomy) To cover or hide from view.

   The Earth occults the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

2. (transitive, rare) To dissimulate, conceal, or obfuscate.

Translations

to cover

• Catalan: ocultar (ca), amagar (ca)
• Dutch: verduisteren (nl), bedekken (nl)
• Finnish: pimentää (fi)
• French: occulter (fr)
• Galician: ocultar (gl)
• Ido: okultacar (io)
• Italian: occultare (it)
• Japanese: 掩蔽する (ja) (えんぺいする, enpei suru)
• Macedonian: скрива (skriva), прикрива (prikriva)
• Norwegian: okkultere
• Portuguese: ocultar (pt)
• Russian: скрыва́ть (ru) (skryvátʹ), заслоня́ть (ru) (zaslonjátʹ)

Adjective

occult (comparative more occult, superlative most occult)

2. (medicine) Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.

   occult blood loss; occult cancer

   • 1860, Isaac Taylor, “Mind in Form”, in Ultimate Civilization‎^[1], page 178:

     This counter-influence is so much more conclusive […] because it is of an occult kind, and is so insensible in its advances as to escape observation.

3. Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.
   • 2017, Pao Chang, Word Magic: The Powers & Occult Definitions of Words, →OCLC:

     Be aware that occult knowledge can be used for good or evil purposes.

4. Esoteric.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter VIII, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

Derived terms

• occult line

Translations

secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected

• Armenian: ծածուկ (hy) (cacuk), գաղտնի (hy) (gaġtni), թաքուն (hy) (tʻakʻun), խորհրդավոր (hy) (xorhrdavor)
• Bulgarian: таен (bg) (taen), поверителен (bg) (poveritelen)
• Catalan: ocult (ca), amagat (ca)
• Czech: okultní (cs), skrytý (cs)
• Dutch: verborgen (nl), latent (nl)
• Finnish: piilevä (fi), salainen (fi)
• German: okkult (de)
• Italian: latente (it), celato (it), recondito (it), nascosto (it)
• Norwegian: okkult, skjult
• Persian: (literally) نهان (fa) (nahân), (formally) پنهان (fa) (penhân), (usual) مخفی (fa) (maxfi)
• Portuguese: oculto (pt), ocultado (pt)
• Russian: скры́тый (ru) (skrýtyj), та́йный (ru) (tájnyj)
• Turkish: gizli (tr)

related to the occult

• Bulgarian: тайнствен (bg) (tajnstven), окултен (bg) (okulten)
• Catalan: ocult (ca)
• Czech: okultní (cs)
• Danish: okkult
• Dutch: occult (nl)
• Finnish: yliluonnollinen (fi), salattu (fi)
• French: occulte (fr)
• German: okkult (de)
• Hungarian: okkult (hu)
• Ido: okulta (io)
• Italian: occulto (it) m
• Kazakh: оккульттық (okkulttyq)
• Norwegian: okkult
• Persian: رازآمیز (râz-âmiz)
• Portuguese: oculto (pt)
• Russian: окку́льтный (ru) (okkúlʹtnyj)
• Ukrainian: оку́льтний (okúlʹtnyj)
• Welsh: cyfriniol (cy)

esoteric

• Bulgarian: окултен (bg) (okulten)
• Catalan: ocult (ca)
• Czech: esoterický (cs)
• Danish: esoterisk, okkult
• Finnish: esoteerinen (fi)
• Italian: esoterico (it)

Noun

occult (uncountable)

1. (usually with "the") Supernatural affairs.

Translations

supernatural affairs

• Afrikaans: okkultisme
• Albanian: okultizmi
• Arabic: تَنْجِيمِيَّة f (tanjīmiyya)
• Bulgarian: окулти́зъм m (okultízǎm)
• Catalan: ocultisme, ocult (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神秘學 / 神秘学 (shénmìxué)

• Danish: okkultisme
• Dutch: occulte (nl) n, occultisme (nl) n
• Esperanto: okultismo
• Estonian: okultism
• Finnish: yliluonnollinen (fi)
• French: occulte (fr) m or f, occultisme (fr) m
• Galician: ocultismo
• German: Okkult m, Okkultismus (de) m
• Hebrew: אוקולטיזם (he)
• Hindi: तंत्र-मंत्र m (tantra-mantra)
• Hungarian: okkult (hu)
• Indonesian: okultisme (id)
• Italian: occulto (it) m, occultismo (it)
• Japanese: オカルト (ja) (okaruto), 超自然現象 (ちょうしぜんげんしょう, chōshizen genshō)
• Kazakh: оккультизм (okkultizm)
• Korean: 오컬트 (okeolteu)
• Lithuanian: okultizmas
• Macedonian: окулти́зам m (okultízam)
• Persian: علوم خفیه (olum-e xafiye), علوم غریبه (olum-e ğaribe)
• Polish: okultyzm (pl) m
• Portuguese: oculto (pt), ocultismo (pt)
• Russian: оккульти́зм (ru) m (okkulʹtízm)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: окултизам m

  Roman: okultizam (sh) m

• Sinhalese: ගුප්තශාස්ත්‍ර (guptaśāstra)
• Slovak: okultizmus (sk) m
• Spanish: oculto (es) m, ocultismo
• Swedish: ockult (sv), ockultism (sv)
• Thai: สิ่งลึกลับ (sìng léuk láp)
• Turkish: okültizm (tr)
• Welsh: yr ocwlt

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Persian: ^{(please verify)} مستترکردن

Related terms

• occultation
• occultive

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *ḱel- (2 c, 2 e)