Library / English Dictionary

OCCULT

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Supernatural practices and techniques

Example:

he is a student of the occult

Synonyms:

occult; occult arts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("occult" is a kind of...):

pattern; practice (a customary way of operation or behavior)

Derivation:

occult (having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Supernatural forces and events and beings collectively

Example:

She doesn't believe in the supernatural

Synonyms:

occult; supernatural

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Hypernyms ("occult" is a kind of...):

causal agency; causal agent; cause (any entity that produces an effect or is responsible for events or results)

Meronyms (parts of "occult"):

theurgy (the effect of supernatural or divine intervention in human affairs)

destiny; fate (the ultimate agency regarded as predetermining the course of events (often personified as a woman))

Meronyms (members of "occult"):

spiritual being; supernatural being (an incorporeal being believed to have powers to affect the course of human events)

Derivation:

occult (having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding)

 II. (adjective) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Having an import not apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence; beyond ordinary understanding

Example:

the secret learning of the ancients

Synonyms:

mysterious; mystic; mystical; occult; orphic; secret

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

esoteric (confined to and understandable by only an enlightened inner circle)

Derivation:

occult (supernatural practices and techniques)

occult (supernatural forces and events and beings collectively)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hidden and difficult to see

Example:

occult blood in the stool

Classified under:

Adjectives

Similar:

invisible; unseeable (impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye)

 III. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Hide from view

Example:

The lids were occulting her eyes

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "occult" is one way to...):

conceal; hold back; hold in (hold back; keep from being perceived by others)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become concealed or hidden from view or have its light extinguished

Example:

The beam of light occults every so often

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "occult" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause an eclipse of (a celestial body) by intervention

Example:

Planets and stars often are occulted by other celestial bodies

Synonyms:

eclipse; occult

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "occult" is one way to...):

overshadow (cast a shadow upon)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s something

Credits