supposedly revealed knowledge of various spiritual truths, esp that said to have been possessed by ancient Gnostics
Word Origin
C18: ultimately from Greek: knowledge, from gignōskein to know
-gnosis
combining form
1.
(esp in medicine) recognition or knowledge: prognosis, diagnosis
Derived Forms
-gnostic, combining_form:in_adjective
Word Origin
via Latin from Greek: gnosis
Word Origin and History for gnosis
n.
"special knowledge of spiritual mysteries," 1703, from Greek gnosis "investigation, knowledge," in Christian writers, "higher knowledge of spiritual things" (see gnostic (adj.)).