oscuro

Forms

oscuro (feminine oscura, masculine plural oscuros, feminine plural oscuras, superlative oscurísimo)^[1] Medieval Castilian mostly wrote escuro, the only form in the Quijote; the spelling obscuro, after Latin, spread from the Golden Age and was long preferred by the Academy.^[2][3] Asturian has escuru.^[2][4]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Old Spanish escuro, inherited from Latin obscūrus (“dark, gloomy”), with its form brought back towards the Latin in the Golden Age.^[2][5][1] The medieval form ⟨escuro⟩ runs from the Libro de Apolonio through the Celestina and Nebrija to the Golden Age.^[2] The form with ⟨o-⟩, nearer the Latin, was preferred by a few medieval writers such as Berceo and Juan Manuel; it gained ground under Latin influence in the Golden Age and prevails in Góngora, Covarrubias and Ruiz de Alarcón.^[2] Some writers, above all latinisers such as Góngora, then spelt it obscuro.^[2]

The Latin word was inherited by all the western Romance languages: Portuguese escuro, Galician escuro, Asturian escuru, Occitan escur, French obscur, Italian oscuro (also scuro) and Sardinian iscuru.^[2][1][6] Outside Spanish and Portuguese, the DCECH notes, it is now more restricted in use or purely learned.^[2] French had ⟨oscur⟩ at the end of the 11th century and restored the ⟨b⟩ later.^[7][1] Nascentes explains the ⟨es-⟩ of the Portuguese word as a change of prefix.^[8]

The Latin adjective seems to have meant “darkened, covered” at first.^[9] It is disputed whether it should be divided ⟨ob-scūrus⟩ or ⟨obs-cūrus⟩; de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *skoi-ro- and, with a question mark, Proto-Indo-European *skoh₂-i-ro- (“dark, shady”), comparing Ancient Greek σκίρον (skíron), a white parasol or canopy, and Germanic words for “clear, bright”.^[9] Wiktionary instead derives it from *(s)ḱeh₃i-, an extension of a root meaning “dark”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is a charter of 1184, in Oelschläger's list, followed by Berceo.^[2][5] The DEMel has obscura and oscuros in the Fazienda de Ultramar (1200–1250).^[10] Alfonso X's Lapidario uses it of a stone without brightness that takes no polish: piedra es oscura que no a claridat ninguna “it is a dark stone that has no brightness at all”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Already in Alfonso X's prose the word is used of a colour close to black (a jasper “green but somewhat dark”), of writing that is hard to understand (1270–1284), and of things that are uncertain or fearful (1256).^[11] Covarrubias (1611) explains that writing which cannot be clearly understood is called obscura by a transfer of the sense.^[12] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 lists the figurative senses “of low or unknown origin”, said mostly of lineages, and “confused, unclear”, said of texts and of people who express themselves badly, as well as the painters' term for the shaded parts of a picture and the darker shade of a colour (azul oscuro).^[13]

The phrase a oscuras “in the dark” is first recorded about 1490, in the Celestina, as ascuras; this form was still current in the 16th century, and Cervantes has it beside a escuras.^[2] The 2001 Academy dictionary added a theatre noun, the darkening of the stage, which can do the work of the curtain.^[14]

In the Canaries el oscuro is the darkness of the night, recorded since 1746, and in Tenerife the dark nights of the new moon, when fishermen go out.^[15][16] In Argentina the word is used of a horse of almost black colour.^[17]

Timeline

• 1184 – the first record, in a charter.^[2][5]
• 1200–1250 – the Fazienda de Ultramar has obscura and oscuros.^[10]
• 1220–1250 – oscuridad is first recorded, in Berceo.^[5][2]
• c. 1290 – the verb escurecer appears in the Primera Crónica General.^[2]
• c. 1490 – the Celestina has ascuras “in the dark”.^[2]
• 1525 – the first record from the Americas: cavallo de color castaño escuro, in Mexico City.^[18]
• 1611 – Covarrubias enters the word as oscuro and gives Latin obscurum.^[12]
• 1746 – the Canarian noun oscuro “darkness of the night”.^[15]
• 1869 – the Academy sends oscuro to obscuro, and does so again in 1884 and 1899.^[19][20][21]
• 2001 – the Academy defines the word under oscuro, with the etymology Latin obscūrus.^[14]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Lacking light, dark: un pasillo oscuro.^[22][1]
2. Of a colour or shade: close to black, or deeper than another of the same kind: verde oscuro.^[22][1]
3. Dark-coloured: una chaqueta oscura.^[22]
4. Confused, hard to understand; obscure: un poema muy oscuro.^[22][1]
5. Uncertain, so that it causes fear or distrust: un futuro oscuro.^[22][23]
6. Unknown, little known or mysterious; also suspicious.^[22][23][1]
7. Without importance or fame: una carrera oscura.^[22]
8. Sad, gloomy, causing grief.^[22]

Noun

1. (theatre) A darkening of the stage, which may mark the end of the play or of one of its parts; a blackout.^[22][23]
2. (painting) The part of a picture where the shadows are shown.^[22]
3. (Canary Islands) The darkness of the night, especially at the new moon.^[15][16]

Word family

• oscurecer
• oscuridad
• claroscuro
• oscuramente
• a oscuras

Related words

• obscurantismo
• Latin obscūrus
• Portuguese escuro
• English obscure

Usage notes

The Autoridades preferred the spelling obscuro, probably to drive out escuro, which was by then felt as vulgar; the word was never pronounced with the ⟨b⟩, and the Academy kept the spelling against the protests of most educated writers, such as Unamuno.^[2] Its dictionaries of 1869 to 1899 send oscuro to obscuro; the DLE now defines the word under oscuro.^[19][21][22] A oscuras means “without light”, and figuratively “without knowing”;^[22] hace oscuro means that the sky is dark, especially at night.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 318
3. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 813
4. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. escuru
5. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. oscuro
6. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 1400
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. escuro
9. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. oscuro
11. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. oscuro
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1180
13. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 518
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. oscuro
15. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. oscuro
16. ^ a b Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. oscuro
17. ^ Garzón, Tobías (1910), Diccionario argentino, Barcelona: Imprenta Elzeviriana de Borrás y Mestres, p. 342
18. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies
19. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1869), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 11th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de Don Manuel Rivadeneyra, p. 558
20. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 768
21. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 721
22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. oscuro
23. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos