Plural of adept; people who are highly skilled or expert at something.
From Latin 'adeptus' meaning 'attained' or 'obtained,' the past participle of 'adipisci.' The word originally meant someone who had attained mastery, especially in alchemy or mystical arts, and evolved to mean any highly skilled practitioner.
Medieval alchemists called themselves 'adepts' because they believed they'd achieved secret knowledge about turning lead into gold—the word carried an aura of mystery and insider status that it still kind of has today.
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