Esoteric

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 4: Dionysius to Friction, p. 425

Esoteric (Gr.) is a term derived from the ancient mysteries, in which it was applied to those doctrines that were designed for the initiated, in contradistinction to those that were imparted to the uninitiated, which were termed exoteric. It is now used in various relations of an analogous kind. For Esoteric Buddhism, see THEOSOPHY.

Source scan(s): p. 0436