different between vague vs arcane
vague
English
Etymology
From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ve??/
- IPA(key): (Upper Midwest US) /væ?/
- Rhymes: -e??, -æ?
Adjective
vague (comparative vaguer, superlative vaguest)
- Not clearly expressed; stated in indefinite terms.
- 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage
- Throughout the first week of his presidency, Dulles and Bissell continued to brief Kennedy on their strategy for Cuba, but the men were vague and their meetings offered little in the way of hard facts.
- inarticulate, Synonym: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
- 2004: Chris Wallace, Character: Profiles in Presidential Courage
- Not having a precise meaning.
- Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal
- Not clearly defined, grasped, or understood; indistinct; slight.
- Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal, indistinct, obscure; see also Thesaurus:vague
- Not clearly felt or sensed; somewhat subconscious.
- Not thinking or expressing one’s thoughts clearly or precisely.
- 1962, Philip Larkin, "Toads Revisited"
- Waxed-fleshed out-patients / Still vague from accidents, / And characters in long coats / Deep in the litter-baskets […]
- Synonym: dazed
- 1962, Philip Larkin, "Toads Revisited"
- Lacking expression; vacant.
- Synonyms: vacant, vacuous
- Not sharply outlined; hazy.
- Synonyms: fuzzy, hazy, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct
- Wandering; vagrant; vagabond.
- 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI
- The Lord Gray incourag'd his men to set sharply upon the vague villains
- Synonyms: erratic, roaming, unsettled, vagrant, vagabond
- 1630, John Hayward, The Life and Raigne of King Edward VI
Related terms
Translations
Noun
vague (plural vagues)
- (obsolete) A wandering; a vagary.
- An indefinite expanse.
- 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral
- The gray vague of unsympathizing sea.
- 1870, James Russell Lowell, The Cathedral
Verb
vague (third-person singular simple present vagues, present participle vaguing, simple past and past participle vagued)
- (archaic) to wander; to roam; to stray.
- 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals
- [The soul] doth vague and wander.
- 1603, Philemon Holland (translator), The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals
- To become vague or act in a vague manner.
Further reading
- vague in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- vague in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
- vague at OneLook Dictionary Search
Catalan
Etymology
From Latin vagus.
Pronunciation
- (Balearic) IPA(key): /?va.??/
- (Central) IPA(key): /?ba.??/
- (Valencian) IPA(key): /?va.?e/
Adjective
vague (feminine vaga, masculine and feminine plural vagues)
- vague
Derived terms
- vagament
Further reading
- “vague” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “vague” in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana.
- “vague” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
- “vague” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
French
Etymology 1
From Middle French [Term?], from Old French vague (“movement on the surface of a liquid, ripple”), from Old Norse vágr (“sea”), from Proto-Germanic *w?gaz (“wave, storm”), from Proto-Indo-European *we??- (“to drag, carry”). Cognate with Swedish våg (“wave”), Middle Dutch waeghe, wage (“wave”), Old High German w?ge (“wave”), Old English w?g (“wave, billow, motion, flood”). More at waw, wave.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /va?/
Noun
vague f (plural vagues)
- wave
- 2014, Indila, Comme un bateau
- 2014, Indila, Comme un bateau
Derived terms
- faire des vagues
- vague de chaleur
- vague de froid
- vaguelette
- vaguette
Etymology 2
From Middle French vague, from Latin vagus (“uncertain, vague”, literally “wandering, rambling, strolling”). Possibly a doublet of gai.
Adjective
vague (plural vagues)
- vague
Noun
vague m (plural vagues)
- vagueness
- Synonym: distrait
Derived terms
- terrain vague
- vague à l'âme
- vaguement
Further reading
- “vague” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).
Galician
Verb
vague
- first/third-person singular present subjunctive of vagar
Portuguese
Verb
vague
- first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of vagar
- third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of vagar
- third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of vagar
- third-person singular (você) negative imperative of vagar
Spanish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /?ba?e/, [?ba.??e]
Verb
vague
- First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of vagar.
- Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of vagar.
- Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of vagar.
vague From the web:
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arcane
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)
- Understood by only a few.
- Synonym: esoteric
- Antonym: mundane
- (by extension) Obscure, mysterious.
- Synonyms: enigmatic, esoteric, recondite, clandestine
- 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.
- 1997: Chris Horrocks, Introducing Foucault, page 67, The Renaissance Episteme (Totem Books, Icon Books; ?ISBN
- 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)
- (dated) arcane, secret, mysterious
Noun
arcane m (plural arcanes)
- (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
- 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
- vocative masculine singular of arc?nus
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