esotericus

Forms

esōtericus (feminine esōterica, neuter esōtericum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐσωτερικός (esōterikós, “belonging to an inner circle”).^[1][2] Köbler connects the Greek word with εἴσω (eísō, “inwards”) and the preposition ἐν (en, “in”), which go back to Proto-Indo-European *en (“in”).^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in a letter in Augustine's correspondence, of a philosophy cherished “in Aristotle's manner, as esoteric” (Aristoteleō mōre tamquam esōtericam).^[3][4][2]

Semantic evolution

In Late Latin the word described teaching meant only for an inner circle, the sense of the Greek, which was applied to some of Aristotle's writings.^[1][5] It is rare in antiquity;^[3] Wiktionary labels it Late and New Latin,^[1] and English borrowed the word, in a Latinised form, as esoteric in the 1650s.^[5] Italian has it as esoterico.^[1]

Timeline

• 354–430 AD – A letter in Augustine's correspondence uses it of Aristotle's way of keeping a philosophy for the initiated.^[3][4][2]
• 1650s – English borrows it as esoteric.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin, New Latin) esoteric, meant for the initiated or an inner circle of disciples.^[1][4]

Related words

• English esoteric

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
3. ^ a b c Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ a b c Conte, Gian Biagio; Pianezzola, Emilio; Ranucci, Giuliano (2010), il Latino: Vocabolario della lingua latina, 3rd ed., Florence: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com