I have found a funny coincidence going through etymology. I found that the word occult comes from the same root *kel as hell. I feel like that is a spooky coincidence. The word *kel in PIE means to conceal, and the occult and hell are “concealed” in similar ways. Is this true?
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2google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=etymology+occult versus google.com/… – user6726 Dec 7 '19 at 17:21
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1@user6726: Fun fact about Google: because Google locates me in Germany, it presents the etymology of the German adjective hell "shiny, bright" here. – jk - Reinstate Monica Dec 7 '19 at 18:13
It is indeed true!
Proto-Indo-European *ḱel "conceal" > Proto-Germanic *haljō "concealed place" > Old English hell "underworld" > English "hell"
Proto-Indo-European *ḱel "conceal" > Latin *ob-celō > occulō "conceal" > occultus "(that which is) concealed" > English "occult"
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2The derivation of "hell" from *ḱel is widely, but not universally accepted. oed.com/view/Entry/85636?rskey=uzK3oW&result=1#eid – fdb Dec 8 '19 at 0:26
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@Draconis you misunderstand the purpose of the comment. You are supposed to bring that information into your post in order to improve it. – user64742 Dec 8 '19 at 5:21
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@TheGreatDuck No, I know, but I'm saying this question might benefit from another answer. Fdb could potentially provide much better information about the other viewpoint than I could, especially since I hadn't heard of this theory before and can't access the OED at the moment (though I have no doubt there's good information there). – Draconis Dec 8 '19 at 5:31
