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==Etymology==

==Etymology==

'''Esoteric''' is an [[adjective]] originating in [[Greece]]; it comes from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐσωτερικός}}'' ''esôterikos'', from ''esôtero'', the [[comparative]] form of ''{{polytonic|ἔσω}}'' ''esô'': "[[wikt:within|within]]". ''Esoteric'' refers to anything that is [[wikt:inner|inner]]. Its antonym is [[exoteric]], from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐξωτερικός}}'' ''eksôterikos'', from ''eksôtero'', the comparative form of ''{{polytonic|ἔξω}}'' ''eksô'': "outside". [[Plato]], in his dialogue ''Alcibíades'' ([[circa]] [[390 BC]]), uses the expression ''ta esô'' meaning «the inner things», and in his dialogue ''Theaetetus'' (circa [[360 BC]]) he uses ''ta eksô'' meaning «the outside things». The probable first appearance of the Greek [[adjective]] ''esôterikos'' is in [[Lucian of Samosata]]'s "The Auction of Lives", § 26 (also called "The Auction of the Philosophical Schools"), written around AD 166. [http://paginasesotericas.tripod.com/esoterismo.htm]

'''Esoteric''' is an [[adjective]] originating in [[Greece]]; it comes from the Greek ''ἐσωτερικός'' ''esôterikos'', from ''esôtero'', the [[comparative]] form of ''ἔσω'' ''esô'': "[[wikt:within|within]]". ''Esoteric'' refers to anything that is [[wikt:inner|inner]]. Its antonym is [[exoteric]], from the Greek ''{{polytonic|ἐξωτερικός}}'' ''eksôterikos'', from ''eksôtero'', the comparative form of ''{{polytonic|ἔξω}}'' ''eksô'': "outside". [[Plato]], in his dialogue ''Alcibíades'' ([[circa]] [[390 BC]]), uses the expression ''ta esô'' meaning «the inner things», and in his dialogue ''Theaetetus'' (circa [[360 BC]]) he uses ''ta eksô'' meaning «the outside things». The probable first appearance of the Greek [[adjective]] ''esôterikos'' is in [[Lucian of Samosata]]'s "The Auction of Lives", § 26 (also called "The Auction of the Philosophical Schools"), written around AD 166. [http://paginasesotericas.tripod.com/esoterismo.htm]

The term ''esoteric'' first appeared in English in the [[1701]] ''History of Philosophy'' by [[Thomas Stanley (author)|Thomas Stanley]], in his description of the "Auditors of [[Pythagoras]]." The Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric", which were under review, and "esoteric", which had performed well enough to be admitted into the "inner" circle.

The term ''esoteric'' first appeared in English in the [[1701]] ''History of Philosophy'' by [[Thomas Stanley (author)|Thomas Stanley]], in his description of the "Auditors of [[Pythagoras]]." The Pythagoreans were divided into "exoteric", which were under review, and "esoteric", which had performed well enough to be admitted into the "inner" circle.