Recondite
/ˈrɛkənˌdaɪt/noun
Difficult to understand or known by only a few people because it is highly specialized or obscure.
Did you know?Its Latin ancestor could describe something physically stored away, helping the word develop its modern sense of knowledge kept beyond common understanding.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*deh₃-
“To give or put; a proposed root behind Latin dare, “to give”.”
Classical Latin
Latin
condere
“To put together, establish, store, or conceal; formed with con- (“together”) and a form related to dare (“to put/give”).”
Classical Latin
Latin
recondere
“To put back, store away, conceal, or hide.”
Late Latin
Latin
reconditus
“Hidden, concealed, or placed in storage; the past participle of recondere.”
17th Century
English
recondite
“Obscure, abstruse, or difficult to understand.”
Modern English
English
recondite
“Specialized, little-known, and intellectually difficult.”