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recondite

 - 3 dictionary results

rec⋅on⋅dite

  [rek-uhn-dahyt, ri-kon-dahyt]
Use recondite in a Sentence
–adjective
1. dealing with very profound, difficult, or abstruse subject matter: a recondite treatise.
2. beyond ordinary knowledge or understanding; esoteric: recondite principles.
3. little known; obscure: a recondite fact.
Origin:
1640–50; earlier recondit < L reconditus recondite, hidden (orig. ptp. of recondere to hide), equiv. to re- re- + cond(ere) to bring together (con- con- + -dere to put) + -itus -ite 2

Related forms:
rec⋅on⋅dite⋅ly, adverb
rec⋅on⋅dite⋅ness, noun

Synonyms:
2. deep. 3. mysterious, occult, secret.

Antonyms:
2. exoteric. 3. well-known.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To recondite
rec·on·dite   (rěk'ən-dīt', rĭ-kŏn'dīt')   
adj.  

  1. Not easily understood; abstruse. See Synonyms at ambiguous.

  2. Concerned with or treating something abstruse or obscure: recondite scholarship.

  3. Concealed; hidden.


[Latin reconditus, past participle of recondere, to put away : re-, re- + condere, to put together, preserve; see dhē- in Indo-European roots.]
rec'on·dite'ly adv., rec'on·dite'ness n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

recondite 
1649, "removed or hidden from view," from L. reconditus, pp. of recondere "store away," from re- "away" + condere "to store, hide, put together," from con- "together" + -dere "to put, place." Meaning "removed from ordinary understanding, profound" is from 1652; of writers or sources, "obscure," it is recorded from 1817.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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