mystic

views updated Jun 11 2018

mys·tic / ˈmistik/ • n. a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.• adj. another term for mystical.ORIGIN: Middle English (in the sense ‘mystical meaning’): from Old French mystique, or via Latin from Greek mustikos, from mustēs ‘initiated person,’ from muein ‘close the eyes or lips,’ also ‘initiate.’ The current sense of the noun dates from the late 17th cent.

mystic

views updated May 29 2018

mystic spiritually symbolical XIV; occult, enigmatical; pert. to direct communion with God XVII; sb. exponent of mystic theology; one who practises mystical communion XVII. — (O)F. mystique or L. mysticus — Gr. mustikós, f. mústēs initiated one, f. mū́ein close (of eyes, lips), mueîn initiate.
Hence mystical secret, occult, symbolical XV; pert. to mystics or mysticism XVII. mysticism XVIII. So mystique XX. — F., sb. use of adj.

mystic

views updated May 11 2018

mystic a person who seeks by contemplation and self-surrender to obtain unity with or absorption into the Deity or the absolute, or who believes in the spiritual apprehension of truths that are beyond the intellect.

Recorded from Middle English (in the sense ‘mystical meaning’), the word comes via Old French or Latin from Greek mustikos, from mustēs ‘initiated person’ from muein ‘close the eyes or lips’, also ‘initiate’. This sense of the noun dates from the late 17th century.