Etymograph

English

occult

Occult comes from Latin occultus ‘hidden, secret’, from occulō ‘to cover, hide, conceal’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱel-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-1‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱéleti1‘to be covering, hiding’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*celo1‘to hide, cover, keep a secret, conceal’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocculō1‘to cover, hide, conceal’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccultus1‘hidden, secret’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1860occult1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English occult
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, Isaac Taylor, Mind in Form: “This counter-influence is so much more conclusive[…] because it…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱel-Wiktionary, English occult‘to cover’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱéletiWiktionary, English occult‘to be covering, hiding’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*celoWiktionary, English occult‘to hide, cover, keep a secret, conceal’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEocculōWiktionary, English occult‘to cover, hide, conceal’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEoccultusWiktionary, English occult‘hidden, secret’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1860occultWiktionary, English occult. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1860, Isaac Taylor, Mind in Form: “This counter-influence is so much more conclusive[…] because it…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- ‘to cover’

hell, color, cell, hall, holder, helmet, hollow, hull, helm, halt, holden, conceal, uphold, clandestine, sari, sala, cilia, recline, declination, declension, tricolour, haugh, seel, halberd, hele, 37 more

through Proto-Indo-European *ḱéleti ‘to be covering, hiding’

hole, holing, 1 more

through Latin *celo ‘to hide, cover, keep a secret, conceal’

ceiling, 1 more

Today it means

verb To cover or hide from view.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “occult”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱel- / occult

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