different between obtuse vs arcane

English

Etymology

From Middle French obtus (“obtuse (geometry); narrow-minded, obtuse; boring, dull, lifeless”), from Latin obt?sus (“blunt, dull; obtuse”), past participle of obtundere, from obtund? (“to batter, beat, strike; to blunt, dull”), from ob- (“prefix meaning against”) (see ob-) + tund? (“to beat, strike; to bruise, crush, pound”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd-, from *(s)tew- (“to hit; to push”)). More at obtund.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b?tju?s/, /-?t?u?s/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?t(j)us/, /?b-/
• Rhymes: -u?s
• Hyphenation: ob?tuse

Adjective

obtuse (comparative obtuser or more obtuse, superlative obtusest or most obtuse)

1. (now chiefly botany, zoology) Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.
   1. (botany, zoology) Blunt, or rounded at the extremity.
   2. (geometry, specifically, of an angle) Larger than one, and smaller than two right angles, or more than 90° and less than 180°.
   3. (geometry, by ellipsis) Obtuse-angled, having an obtuse angle.
2. Intellectually dull or dim-witted.
   • 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 21:

     When the elder Osborne gave what he called "a hint," there was no possibility for the most obtuse to mistake his meaning. He called kicking a footman downstairs a hint to the latter to leave his service.
3. Of sound, etc.: deadened, muffled, muted.
4. Indirect or circuitous.

Synonyms

• (intellectually dull): dense, dim, dim-witted, thick (informal)
• (of a sound): deadened, muffled
• (of a triangle): obtuse-angled
• (now chiefly botany, zoology): blunt, dull

Antonyms

• (intellectually dull): bright, intelligent, on the ball, quick off the mark, quick-witted, sharp, smart
• (deadened, muffled, muted): clear, sharp
• (of an angle): acute
• (of a triangle): acute, acute-angled
• (now chiefly botany, zoology): pointed, sharp

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Verb

obtuse (third-person singular simple present obtuses, present participle obtusing, simple past and past participle obtused)

1. (transitive, obsolete) To dull or reduce an emotion or a physical state.

Translations

Further reading

• obtuse (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• obtuse in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• obtuse in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obtuse at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• buteos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.tyz/

Adjective

obtuse

1. feminine singular of obtus

Anagrams

• boutes

Latin

Adjective

obt?se

1. vocative masculine singular of obt?sus

References

• obtuse in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obtuse in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin arc?nus (“hidden, secret”), from arce? (“to shut up, enclose”); cognate with Latin arca (“a chest”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /???ke?n/
• Rhymes: -e?n

Adjective

arcane (comparative more arcane, superlative most arcane)

1. Understood by only a few.

   Synonym: esoteric

   Antonym: mundane

2. (by extension) Obscure, mysterious.

   Synonyms: enigmatic, esoteric, recondite, clandestine

3. Requiring secret or mysterious knowledge to understand.
   • 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; ?ISBN

     A “signature” was placed on all things by God to indicate their affinities — but it was hidden, hence the search for arcane knowledge. Knowing was guessing and interpreting, not observing or demonstrating.

4. Extremely old (e.g. interpretation or knowledge), and possibly irrelevant.

Derived terms

• arcanely
• arcaneness

Related terms

Translations

Further reading

• arcane in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• arcane in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• arcane at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• carane

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a?.kan/

Adjective

arcane (plural arcanes)

1. (dated) arcane, secret, mysterious

Noun

arcane m (plural arcanes)

1. (chiefly in the plural) mysteries, arcanum

Further reading

• “arcane” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Italian

Adjective

arcane

1. feminine plural of arcano

Anagrams

• arance, carena, carnea

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ar?ka?.ne/, [är?kä?n?]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ar?ka.ne/, [?r?k??n?]

Adjective

arc?ne

1. vocative masculine singular of arc?nus