obscurité

Forms

obscurité f (plural obscurités)^[1] Old French obscurtez (1119), oscurté (about 1265); the form obscurité appears in 1305.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin obscūritās (“darkness, weakness of sight, lack of clarity, obscure birth”),^{[2][3][4][5][6]} from obscūrus (“dark”).^[4][5][7] Rey calls the earlier obscurtez and oscurté popular forms, after which the present form was taken from the Latin.^[3] Old French also had oscuror.^[7]

Cognate with Italian oscurità.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as obscurtez in Philippe de Thaon's Comput (1119), meaning absence of light.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense “darkness” came first, then the figurative “lack of clarity in speech” (about 1265, in Brunetto Latini) and “state of being hard to understand” (1305).^[2][3] In the 17th and 18th centuries it gained other figurative uses: des obscurités for difficult passages of a text (Pascal, 1657–1662), the condition of an unknown person (Corneille, 1640), and low social birth (Racine, 1670).^[2][3] The Encyclopedists used it for a lack of civilisation (d'Alembert, 1751), a sense now gone.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1119 – Obscurtez “absence of light” in Philippe de Thaon.^[2]
• c. 1265 – Oscurté “lack of clarity in speech”, in Brunetto Latini.^[2]
• 1305 – Obscurité “state of being hard to understand”.^[2][3]
• 1640 – Corneille uses it for the condition of an unknown person.^[2]
• 1657–1662 – Pascal uses the plural for obscure passages.^[2]
• 1670 – Racine uses it for humble birth.^[2]
• 1751 – D'Alembert uses it for a lack of civilisation.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Darkness, absence of light: la pièce fut plongée dans l'obscurité.^[8][2][7]
2. Lack of clarity or intelligibility, as of a text; the state of being little known: l'obscurité de ce poème.^[8][2]
3. Une obscurité, des obscurités: an obscure passage or point.^[8][2]
4. The condition of someone who stays unknown; obscurity: vivre dans l'obscurité.^[8][2]

Related words

• obscur
• Latin obscūritās

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 7, 279b
7. ^ a b c d Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert