exoteric

Definition

Of a doctrine, information, etc.: suitable to be imparted to the public without secrecy or other reservations.

Etymology

The adjective is a learned borrowing from Late Latin exōtericus + English -ic (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’). Exōtericus is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἐξωτερῐκός (exōterĭkós, “exterior, external, outside”, adjective), from ἐξωτέρω (exōtérō, “more exterior”) (the comparative form of ἔξω (éxō, “external, outer”) (ultimately from ἐκ (ek, “beyond; outside”, preposition), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵʰs (“out”)) + -τέρω (-térō) (an inflected form of -τερος (-teros, suffix forming comparative forms)) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix forming adjectives). The noun is derived from the adjective.

Example Sentences

• "In one of his works he [Samuel Taylor Coleridge] has ascribed to [Immanuel] Kant the foppery of an exoteric and an esoteric doctrine; and that upon grounds wholly untenable."
• "Again, it is folly to belittle the significance of the canonical prayer—or exoteric rites in general—out of some presumptuous notion of esoterism. [Frithjof] Schuon repeatedly stresses throughout his writings the indispensable nature of the exoteric framework of formal religion; without this framework, all "esoteric" exercises are doomed in advance to being nothing more than "psychological exploits.""
• "Near-synonym: uninitiated"