Lecture 18: Thinking, Teaching, and Learning Words
z Esoteric describes secret or specialized knowledge that might seem
mysterious because it’s known only to an enlightened inner circle.
For example: “The intricacies of the software program seemed
esoteric to everyone but the programmers.”z Both esoteric and recondite can describe knowledge that is beyond
the power of the average person to understand. However, recondite
is used to stress the fact that it’s the profundity of the ideas and
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comprehend. Esoteric is used to stress the idea that the knowledge
is secret, guarded, or known by only a select group of initiates
or students.The gn(o) Root: “Know”
z The Greek root that means “know,” usually spelled gn(o), is
a powerful one that gives us many derived words, including
cognition, “the act or process of knowing,” as well as recognition,
incognito, and cognizant.z You may have encountered the related words gnosis, referring to
secret knowledge of spiritual mysteries, and Gnosticism, a religious
movement of the 2nd century C.E. Gnosticism claimed that salvation
came from acquiring secret, esoteric knowledge.z Other words derived from gn(o) include agnostic, diagnosis,
ignorant, and prognosis and prognosticate—both sharing the core
meaning of “knowing something before.”- When Carl refused to see any movie with subtitles, Janet denounced
him as a __. - Dr. Nolan’s keen insights into the science of thermodynamics were
characteristic of her __ mind.
Review Questions