arcana
/ɑɹˈkeɪnə/
arcana noun: specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated. Also the plural of arcanum.
Noun
arcana (uncountable)
- Specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
- Thou deign'st no answer,—or I fain would ask
If since thy bright creation, thou hast seen
Ought like a Newton, whose admitted eye
The arcana of the universe explored
Light's subtle ray its mechanism disclosed,
The impetuous comet his mysterious lore
Unfolded,1827, Lydia Sigourney, Poems, To the Moon, page 15 - The witch, repository of hieratic lore and folk legends and occult arcana, became the distributor of philtres and unguents, electuaries and pastilles, herbs and charms and incantations - directed toward sexual pleasures and amatory satisfactions.1961, Harry E. Wedeck, Dictionary of Aphrodisiacs, New York: The Citadel Press, page 223
- Thou deign'st no answer,—or I fain would ask
Also used as
arcana is also the plural of arcanum.
Origin of arcana
From Latin arcānus (“hidden, secret”), from arcēre (“to withhold”), arca (“a chest”).
Words formed from arcana
Words that rhyme with arcana
Questions about arcana
- What does arcana mean?
- Arcana means specialized knowledge that is mysterious to the uninitiated.
- What part of speech is arcana?
- Arcana is a noun.
- How do you pronounce arcana?
- Arcana is pronounced /ɑɹˈkeɪnə/.
Words near arcana in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: arcana (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-arcana.wav.
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