exoteric
/ˌɛksəˈtɛɹɪk/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 1.79 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
4
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
Of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.
adj
Of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.
adj
Capable of being fully or readily comprehended by the public; accessible; also, having an obvious application.
noun
A person who is not part of an enlightened inner circle, and not privy to esoteric knowledge.
Example Sentences
- "In one of his works he [Samuel Taylor Coleridge] has ascribed to [Immanuel] Kant the foppery of an exoteric and an esoteric doctrine; and that upon grounds wholly untenable."
- "Again, it is folly to belittle the significance of the canonical prayer—or exoteric rites in general—out of some presumptuous notion of esoterism. [Frithjof] Schuon repeatedly stresses throughout his writings the indispensable nature of the exoteric framework of formal religion; without this framework, all "esoteric" exercises are doomed in advance to being nothing more than "psychological exploits.""
- "Near-synonym: uninitiated"
- "But of all the Egyptian Inventions, and Pythagoric Practices, nothing pleaſed him [Plato] more than that of the double Doctrine, and the Diviſion of his Auditors into the Exoteric and Eſoteric Claſſes: He more profeſſedly than any other, avovving thoſe Principles, on vvhich that Diſtinction vvas founded, ſuch as,—that it is for the Benefit of Mankind, that they ſhould be often deceived—that there are ſome Truths it is not fit the People ſhould know—that the VVorld is not to be entruſted vvith the true Notion of God: […]"
- "Dr. Goldſmith, being a privileged man, vvent vvith him this night, ſtrutting avvay, and calling to me vvith an air of ſuperiority, like that of an eſoterick over an exoterick diſciple of a ſage of antiquity, "I go to Miſs VVilliams.""
- "The diſcourſe and doctrine vvhich he [Aristotle] delivered to his Diſciples vvas of tvvo kinds. One he called Exoterick, the other Acroatick. Exoterick vvere thoſe vvhich conduced to Rhetorick, meditation, nice diſputes, and the knovvledge of civill things. Acroatick thoſe in vvhich more remote and ſubtile Philoſophy vvas handled, and ſuch things as pertain to the contemplation of nature, and Dialectick Diſceptations."
Etymology
The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin exōtericus + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). Exōtericus is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξωτερῐκός (exōterĭkós, “exterior, external, outside”, adjective), from ἐξωτέρω (exōtérō, “more exterior”) (the comparative form of ἔξω (éxō, “external, outer”) (ultimately from ἐκ (ek, “beyond; outside”, preposition), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -τέρω (-térō) (an inflected form of -τερος (-teros, suffix forming comparative forms)) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: ἐξωτερῐκός, *h₁eǵʰs
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˌɛksəˈtɛɹɪk/
- British English: /ˌɛksə(ʊ)ˈtɛɹɪk/