enigmatic

Etymology

It is borrowed from Late Latin aenigmaticus,^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from Ancient Greek αἰνιγματικός (ainigmatikós),^[4][7] from αἴνιγμα (aínigma, “riddle”), the source of enigma.^[2][5][7] The Shorter Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English also allow borrowed from French énigmatique as a source.^[8][9] The Greek noun comes from αἰνίσσεσθαι (ainíssesthai, “to speak in riddles”), from αἶνος (aînos, “tale, story, saying”),^[5][2][10] a word of unknown origin.^[5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of the nature of an enigma; obscure, puzzling: Merriam-Webster dates the word to 1609.^[4] The OED's first quotation is from 1628, in Felltham's Resolves,^[2] Dictionary.com dates it to 1620–30^[6] and Etymonline to the 1640s.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its first meaning, "puzzling, obscure";^[2][4] the OED notes that of people it means mysterious, baffling all guesses about their character, feelings or identity.^[2][8] The longer form enigmatical, with the same sense, is older, from the 1570s.^[3]

Timeline

• 1570s – enigmatical, in the same sense.^[3]
• 1609 – of the nature of an enigma; obscure.^[4] The OED's first quotation is from 1628.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Hard to understand or explain; mysterious or puzzling: an enigmatic reply.^[4][2][8]
2. Of a person, hard to read or baffling: her enigmatic neighbour.^[2][8]

Word family

• enigmatically
• unenigmatic

Related words

• enigma
• enigmatical

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
8. ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black