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hermetic

 
Dictionary: her·met·ic   (hər-mĕt'ĭk) pronunciation also her·met·i·cal
(-ĭ-kəl)
adj.
  1. Completely sealed, especially against the escape or entry of air.
  2. Impervious to outside interference or influence: the hermetic confines of an isolated life.
  3. often Hermetic
    1. Mythology. Of or relating to Hermes Trismegistus or the works ascribed to him.
    2. Having to do with the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical.

[New Latin hermēticus, alchemical, from Medieval Latin Hermēs (Trismegistus). See Hermes Trismegistus.]

hermetically her·met'i·cal·ly adv.

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Wordsmith Words: hermetic
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(huhr-MET-ik) pronunciation

adjective
1. Airtight.
2. Not affected by outside influence.
3. Relating to the occult sciences, especially alchemy; magical.
4. Obscure or hard to understand.

Etymology
From the belief that Hermes Trismegistus invented a seal to keep a vessel airtight in alchemy. Who was Hermes Trismegistus? It was the name of a legendary figure that Greek neo-Platonists thought was a blend of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. Trismegistos is Greek for thrice-greatest, from tris (thrice) + megistos (greatest), ultimately from the Indo-European root meg- (great) that's also the source of words such as magnificent, maharajah, mahatma, master, mayor, maestro, magnate, magistrate, maximum, and magnify

Another word coined after Hermes is hermeneutic meaning interpretive or explanatory. hermeneutic.

Hermes Trismegistus, from a floor mosaic in Siena Cathedral, Italy


Usage
"So far, however, the net increase in accessibility and therefore accountability is welcome and popular compared to the hermetic secrecy and executive authoritarianism of the Bush administration." — Obama Makes An Early Impression; The Irish Times (Dublin); Mar 27, 2009.


Veterinary Dictionary: hermetic
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Impervious to the air.

Obscure Words: hermetic
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[fr. Hermes Trismegistus] 1) mysterious, occult; recondite 2) sealed airtight
Wikipedia: Hermetic
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The term "hermetic" may refer to:

See also

  • Hermeneutics, the study of the methods (the "art" or the "science") of interpreting texts



Translations: Hermetic
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Dansk (Danish)
adj. - hermetisk

Nederlands (Dutch)
hermetisch, luchtdicht

Français (French)
adj. - hermétique

Deutsch (German)
adj. - hermetisch, luft- u. wasserdicht

Ελληνική (Greek)
adj. - ερμητικός

Italiano (Italian)
ermetico

Português (Portuguese)
adj. - hermético

Русский (Russian)
магический, относящийся к алхимии, алхимик

Español (Spanish)
adj. - hermético

Svenska (Swedish)
adj. - hermetisk (t tillsluten) (äv. bildl.), alkemisk, ockult

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
密封的, 神秘的, 炼金术的, 深奥的, 不易理解的

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
adj. - 密封的, 神秘的, 煉金術的, 深奧的, 不易理解的

한국어 (Korean)
adj. - 밀봉한, 심원한, 연금술의

日本語 (Japanese)
adj. - 錬金術の, 密封した, ヘルメストリスメギストスの, 気密の
n. - 錬金術師

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(صفه) سحري أو متعلق بالكيمياء القديمه, كتيم, محكم السد, لا يتأثر بالنفوذ الخارجي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
adj. - ‮של אלכימיה או מדעים מיסטיים אחרים, חתום, אטום, הרמטי, של תורת המיסתורין‬


 
 
Learn More
"Perfect Sermon" (parapsychology)
Hermetic Society (parapsychology)
Arcana Magazine (parapsychology)

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Copyrights:

Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wordsmith Words. © 2009 Wordsmith.org. All rights reserved.  Read more
Veterinary Dictionary. Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary 3rd Edition. Copyright © 2007 by D.C. Blood, V.P. Studdert and C.C. Gay, Elsevier. All rights reserved.  Read more
Obscure Words. © 2008 by Michael A. Fischer http://home.comcast.net/~wwftd Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hermetic" Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

 

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