different between perplexing vs arcane

English

Pronunciation

• (US) enPR: p?rpl?ks'?ng, IPA^(key): /p??pl?ks??/

Adjective

perplexing (comparative more perplexing, superlative most perplexing)

1. confusing or puzzling
2. bewildering

Translations

Verb

perplexing

1. present participle of perplex

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