recondite
adjective

- not known about by many people and difficult to understand

- difficult or impossible for one of ordinary understanding or knowledge to comprehend

- of, relating to, or dealing with something little known or obscure

Cambridge Dictionary / Merriam-Webster

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WORD  ORIGIN

The word "recondite" has a rich etymological history that can be traced back to the Latin word reconditus, meaning "concealed" or "hidden." This word was formed from the prefix re-, meaning "again" or "back," and the verb condere, meaning "to put together" or "to store." The original meaning of "recondite" was thus to describe something that was hidden away or kept secret.

Over time, the meaning of "recondite" shifted to emphasize the difficulty of understanding something. This is likely due to the fact that hidden or obscure things are often difficult to comprehend. By the early 17th century, the “recondite" was being used to describe knowledge that is "deep," "abstruse," or "difficult to understand."

Here’s the etymological progression:

Latin: reconditus (concealed, hidden)

Middle English: recondite (concealed, hidden)

Early Modern English: recondite (obscure, difficult to understand)

Modern English: recondite (deep, abstruse, difficult to understand)

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SYNONYMS

- Arcane = understood by only a few; mysterious; secret: "The professor discussed an arcane branch of theoretical physics that was beyond most of the students."

- Cryptic = having a secret or hidden meaning; mysterious; puzzling: "He received a cryptic message that used code words only he could decipher."

- Enigmatic = hard to understand, explain, or identify; mysterious: "She has an enigmatic smile that reveals little of her true thoughts."

- Ambiguous = open to more than one meaning or interpretation; unclear: "The instructions were ambiguous, so I didn't know how to assemble the bookcase properly."

- Abstruse = difficult to comprehend; obscure; esoteric: "Quantum physics is an abstruse subject that can take years to fully grasp."

The main differences have to do with how knowable or inherently mysterious the meaning is. "Arcane" suggests only a select inner circle can access and comprehend the knowledge. "Cryptic" indicates deliberate obscuring or secret codes. "Enigmatic" describes something puzzling in itself. "Ambiguous" refers to a lack of definitive clarity. And "Abstruse" means conceptually challenging to understand fully.

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