- mystic (n.)
- "exponent of mystical theology," 1670s, from mystic (adj.). In Middle English, the noun meant "symbolic meaning, interpretation" (early 14c.).
- mystic (adj.)
- late 14c., "spiritually allegorical, pertaining to mysteries of faith," from Old French mistique "mysterious, full of mystery" (14c.), or directly from Latin mysticus "mystical, mystic, of secret rites" (source also of Italian mistico, Spanish mistico), from Greek mystikos "secret, mystic, connected with the mysteries," from mystes "one who has been initiated" (see mystery (n.1)). Meaning "pertaining to occult practices or ancient religions" first recorded 1610s.
- Mystic
- place name in Connecticut, U.S., deformed from Algonquian missituk "great tidal river," from missi "large" + -tuk "tidal river."
- mysticism (n.)
- 1736, from mystic (adj.) + -ism.
- mystical (adj.)
- late 15c., "enigmatic, obscure, symbolic," from mystic + -al (1). Related: Mystically. Meaning "having spiritual significance" is from 1520s.
- mystique (n.)
- 1891, "atmosphere of mystery," from French mystique "a mystic; mystical," from Latin mysticus (see mystic (adj.)).
- mystify (v.)
- 1814, from French mystifier (1772), a verb formed irregularly from mystique "a mystic" (see mystic (adj.)) + -fier (see -fy). Related: Mystified; mystifying.
- Shriner (n.)
- 1882, a member of the Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (established 1872).
- Schwenkfeldian
- 1560s, from Casper Schwenkfeld (1490-1561), Silesian Protestant mystic who founded the sect. Schwenkfelder is attested from 1882.
- Swedenborgian
- 1791, from name of Emanuel Svedberg, Swedish mystic and religious philosopher (1668-1772). His followers organized 1788 as The New Church.
- Orphic (adj.)
- 1670s, from Greek orphikos "pertaining to Orpheus," master musician of Thrace, son of Eagrus and Calliope, husband of Eurydice, whose name (of unknown origin) was associated with mystic doctrines. Related: Orphism.
- Joachim
- masc. proper name; a Joachimite (1797) was a follower of Italian mystic Joachim of Floris (obit c. 1200) who preached the reign of the Holy Spirit on earth, with a new gospel, would begin in 1260.
- Rasputin
- acquired name (Russian, literally "debauchee") of Grigory Yefimovich Novykh (c. 1872-1916), mystic and faith healer who held sway over court of Nicholas II of Russia. His nickname is from his doctrine of "rebirth through sin," that true holy communion must be preceded by immersion in sin. His name used figuratively in English from 1937 for anyone felt to have an insidious and corrupting influence.
- theosophy (n.)
- 1640s (implied in theosophical), "knowledge of divine things obtained through mystic study," from Medieval Latin theosophia (c.880), from Late Greek theosophia (c.500) "wisdom concerning God or things divine," from Greek theosophos "one wise about God," from theos "god" (see theo-) + sophia "skill, knowledge of, acquaintance with; philosophy," from sophos "wise, learned" (see sophist).
Applied variously over the years, including to the followers of Swedenborg. Taken as the name of a modern philosophical system (sometimes called Esoteric Buddhism), founded in New York 1875 as "Theosophical Society" by Madame Blavatsky and others, which has elements of Hinduism and Buddhism and claims supernatural knowledge of the divinity and his words deeper than that obtained from empiricism. Related: Theosophist.
- lipogram (n.)
- "writing which avoids all words containing a particular letter" (an ancient literary pastime; in English typically -e-), 1711, abstracted from Greek lipogrammatikos, literally "wanting a letter," from stem of leipein "to leave, be lacking" (from PIE root *leikw- "to leave behind;" see relinquish) + gramma "a letter, character" (see -gram).
If Youth, throughout all history, had had a champion to stand up for it; to show a doubting world that a child can think; and, possibly, do it practically, you wouldn't constantly run across folks today who claim that "a child don't know anything." A child's brain starts functioning at birth; and has, amongst its many infant convolutions, thousands of dormant atoms, into which God has put a mystic possibility for noticing an adult's act, and figuring out its purport. [Ernest Vincent Wright, "Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words without Using the Letter 'e'," Los Angeles: 1939]
