recondite

Meaning

Adj

1. Difficult, obscure.
2. Difficult, obscure.
3. Difficult, obscure.
4. Difficult, obscure.
5. (obsolete) Hidden or removed from view.
6. Hidden or removed from view.
7. Hidden or removed from view.

Noun

1. A recondite (hidden or obscure) person or thing.
2. A scholar or other person who is recondite, that is, who has mastery over his or her field, including its esoteric minutiae.

Verb

To conceal, cover up, hide.

Synonyms

abstruse

obscure

deep

profound

complex

dark

difficult

dim

dingy

dusk

esoteric

exquisite

fathom

incomprehensible

intricate

learned

murky

mystic

occult

opaque

perplexed

profundity

searching

shady

somber

sombre

sophisticated

unfathomable

wise

abstracted

acroamatic

black

complicated

convoluted

cryptic

Hyphenated as

re‧cond‧ite

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹɛk(ə)nˌdaɪt/

Etymology

Cognate with Catalan: recòndit

Cognate with Italian: recondito

Cognate with Middle French: recondit

Cognate with Portuguese: recôndito

Cognate with Spanish: recóndito

In summary

The adjective is derived from Latin reconditus (“concealed, hidden; difficult to understand, unintelligible; shy, withdrawn”), perfect passive participle of recondō (“to conceal, hide; to put away; to re-establish, put back”) + -tus (suffix forming adjectives having the sense ‘provided with’). Recondō is derived from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + condō (“to conceal, hide; to put away, store; to put together; to build, establish; to fashion, form”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰeh₁- (“to do, make; to place, put”)). The English word is cognate with Catalan recòndit (“hidden; private”), Italian recondito (“hidden, recondite”), Middle French recondit (“hidden; secret”), Portuguese recôndito (“hidden, secluded; isolated, remote”), Spanish recóndito (“hidden, recondite”).
The noun is probably derived from the adjective.
The verb is derived from Latin recondere, the present active infinitive of recondō; see above.