mystic

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English mistik,^[2][3][4] partly borrowed from Latin mysticus (“relating to sacred mysteries”) and partly borrowed from Old French mistique,^[5][6][7][8] from Ancient Greek μυστικός (mustikós, “secret, mystic, connected with the mysteries”),^[5][6][7] from μύστης (mústēs, “one who has been initiated”) and the suffix -ικός (-ikós).^[5][6][4] Hoad and the Shorter Oxford trace the Greek noun to a verb meaning to close the eyes or lips, also to initiate.^[9][8] The early noun sense "mystical meaning" is from Late Latin mysticum, the neuter of the Latin adjective used as a noun by Saint Augustine; the noun "mystic person" was probably formed in English from the adjective.^[5] The Latin adjective is also the source of mistico and místico.^[6][5] It is related to mystery,^[3][4] and is a doublet of mystique.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a noun, "mystical meaning, symbolic or allegorical representation", about 1350, in the poems of William of Shoreham, a sense lost after 1382.^[5][6][7] As an adjective, "spiritually allegorical, having a spiritual meaning", before 1382, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[7][5][6]

Semantic evolution

The adjective began in theology, of mysteries of faith beyond human understanding; by the end of the 14th century it also meant obscure or mysterious in general.^[5][6] The sense "of mysterious or occult rites" is recorded from 1577 in the OED,^[5] but Barnhart's first record is from 1615.^[7][6] The modern noun, a person who seeks union with God through contemplation, first meant an exponent of mystical theology: Merriam-Webster and the OED date it to 1640, Etymonline to the 1670s and Barnhart to 1679, in William Penn.^[2][5][6][7] From 1842, in Tennyson, the adjective could also describe something that inspires awe.^[5] The OED notes that the adjective is now more or less interchangeable with mystical, but often sounds more literary.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1350 – noun, mystical meaning (obsolete by 1382).^[5]
• before 1382 – having a spiritual significance beyond human understanding.^[5][7]
• before 1398 – obscure, esoteric.^[5]
• 1577 – of mysterious or occult rites.^[5]
• 1629 – relating to spiritual matters or to mystics.^[5]
• 1640 – noun, an exponent of mystical theology; one who seeks union with God.^[5][2]
• 1736 – mysticism.^[7]
• 1842 – inspiring an awed sense of mystery.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. A person who seeks or has direct experience of God or of spiritual truth through contemplation: a medieval mystic who wrote of her visions.^[10][2][5]
2. An initiate of a religious mystery.^[2]

Adjective

1. Mystical; having a spiritual meaning beyond ordinary understanding.^[10][2][5]
2. Relating to ancient mysteries or to occult or esoteric rites.^[2][5]
3. Inspiring a sense of mystery or wonder.^[2][5]

Word family

• mysticly
• mysticize
• nonmystic
• unmystic
• semimystic

Related words

• mysterious
• mystery
• mystical
• mysticism
• mystify
• mystique

Usage notes

Mystic and mystical are now largely interchangeable as adjectives, but mystic often has a more literary tone.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
10. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins