hermtikos

Hermētikos is a Greek adjective (transliterated hermētikos) meaning “pertaining to Hermes” or more broadly “secret, hidden.” It derives from Hermes Trismegistos, the legendary figure associated with wisdom, language, and occult knowledge, and the Greek root for “herm-” in this sense. In classical Greek, the term could describe things concealed or associated with the god Hermes.

In modern usage, hermetic carries two related but distinct senses. One is esoteric: hermetic or Hermetic refers to Hermeticism, a historical philosophical-religious tradition that emerged in the early centuries CE and later influenced medieval and Renaissance thought. Its core texts—often grouped as the Corpus Hermeticum—treat topics such as the nature of reality, the divine, alchemy, and astrology, framing knowledge as something to be safeguarded and transmitted to initiates. The other sense is practical and linguistic: hermetic or hermetical also means airtight or sealed, as in a hermetic seal, a metaphorical extension of the idea that access to hidden or protected knowledge is blocked.

Cognate terms appear in several languages—hermétique, ermetico, ermetico, and similar forms—reflecting the same roots. In scholarly contexts, hermētikos and its derivatives are used to distinguish ordinary, public knowledge from esoteric, secret, or closed systems associated with Hermetic tradition and Western esotericism.