Where does “esotericism” come from?

Esotericism comes from English esoteric plus the Ancient Greek suffix -ισμός, from the Ancient Greek adjective suffix -ικός, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -kos, tracing to Proto-Hellenic ens and Proto-Indo-European h₁én meaning "being" or "entity."

esotericism (English): The tendency to promote or desire the esoteric;...

Definitions

  1. The tendency to promote or desire the esoteric;...

Ancestry of “esotericism”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1English-ismUsed to form nouns of action or process or result...
2Latin-ismus-ism
3Ancient Greek-ισμόςForms abstract nouns
4Ancient Greek-μόςForms abstract nouns
5Proto-Indo-European-mósCreates action/result nouns from verb stems
Every word from Proto-Indo-European -mós →Every word from English -ism →Every word from Ancient Greek -μός →