Nov. 8th, 2008 - esoteric
Nov. 8th, 2008 01:44 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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have just been made the Saturday poster-- I'll start off with an easy one and one of my favorites.
es⋅o⋅ter⋅ic [ es uh tair ik, es oh tair ik]
adjective
Definition:
1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions.
2. belonging to the select few.
3. private; secret; confidential.
4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras.
Etymology:
1645–55; < Gk esōterikós inner, equiv. to ester(os) inner + -ikos -ic
Example:
[L]et's not forget that many of the artists who are now "popular" -- Monet, Renoir, Picasso, even sometimes Old Masters like Titian and Rembrandt -- could be seen as absurdly difficult and esoteric to their contemporaries.
--Blake Gopnik, interviewed on Washingtonpost.com
es⋅o⋅ter⋅ic [ es uh tair ik, es oh tair ik]
adjective
Definition:
1. understood by or meant for only the select few who have special knowledge or interest; recondite: poetry full of esoteric allusions.
2. belonging to the select few.
3. private; secret; confidential.
4. (of a philosophical doctrine or the like) intended to be revealed only to the initiates of a group: the esoteric doctrines of Pythagoras.
Etymology:
1645–55; < Gk esōterikós inner, equiv. to ester(os) inner + -ikos -ic
Example:
[L]et's not forget that many of the artists who are now "popular" -- Monet, Renoir, Picasso, even sometimes Old Masters like Titian and Rembrandt -- could be seen as absurdly difficult and esoteric to their contemporaries.
--Blake Gopnik, interviewed on Washingtonpost.com