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Christanford Posted 17 years ago
Vocabulary
Arcane/ abstruse/ archetype
Hi,
How are 'arcane' and 'abstruse' different?
Are they words in common usage?
What would they normally be used to describe?
A vocabulary book of mine says "an archetype is usually something that precedes something else" and gives "Plato is the archetype of all phiosophers" as an example. I looked up the word in two different dictionarys and they both seem to offer 'a perfect example of something' as the definition of an archetype.
Is the vocabulary book wrong?
Thank you in advance
How are 'arcane' and 'abstruse' different?
Are they words in common usage?
What would they normally be used to describe?
A vocabulary book of mine says "an archetype is usually something that precedes something else" and gives "Plato is the archetype of all phiosophers" as an example. I looked up the word in two different dictionarys and they both seem to offer 'a perfect example of something' as the definition of an archetype.
Is the vocabulary book wrong?
Thank you in advance
Top answer
com/dictionary/archetype "abstruse" and "arcane" are not very common in everyday English, but you may come across them in written English or hear them occasionally in more elevated conversation. ) I would have guessed that "arcane" is rarer than "abstruse", but Google stats indicate the opposite, which shows how much I know...
- com/dictionary/archetype "abstruse" and "arcane" are not very common in everyday English, but you may come across them in written English or hear them occasionally in more elevated conversation.
- ) I would have guessed that "arcane" is rarer than "abstruse", but Google stats indicate the opposite, which shows how much I know...
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