Etymologically
Log in

obscuro

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 19 October 2026 at 20:05. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɔpˈskuː.roː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [obˈskuː.ro][1]

Forms

obscūrō (present infinitive obscūrāre, perfect active obscūrāvī, supine obscūrātum); first conjugation[1] Plautus has the spelling opscūrō.[2][3]

Etymology

It is from Latin obscūrus (“dark”) + -ō.[3][2][1] De Vaan traces obscūrus to Proto-Italic *skoi-ro- and perhaps Proto-Indo-European *skoh₂-i-ro- (“dark, shady”), comparing Old Norse skírr (“clear, bright”); its first meaning seems to have been darkened or covered, and it is disputed whether its prefix is ⟨ob-⟩ or ⟨obs-⟩.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plautus has it first, in the Trinummus: “I know that love has clouded your heart”.[3][4]

Semantic evolution

It is to darken a heavenly body or other source of light, and to cover in darkness or hide, as Cicero says that night cannot hide wicked gatherings.[3][5] Catullus uses it of a sail darkened with dye.[3] It also dims the eyes and clouds the mind.[3] Figuratively it is to overshadow or eclipse, to make sounds or meaning unclear, as Cicero wants letters neither over-pronounced nor slurred, and to make a person or his fame obscure: Ennius says that poverty obscures the names of many.[3] Church Latin glosses it to darken.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus of love clouding the mind.[3][7]
  • 204–169 BC – Ennius of names obscured by poverty.[3][7]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero of night hiding wicked gatherings and of slurred letters.[3][7]
  • 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus of a darkened sail.[3][7]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To darken, obscure, eclipse; to cover in darkness, hide.[3][5][6][1]
  2. To dim the eyes; to cloud the mind.[3][1]
  3. To overshadow, put in the shade.[3]
  4. To make sounds faint or indistinct.[3][1]
  5. To conceal from knowledge; to make hard to understand.[3][1]
  6. To make unknown or insignificant; to blot out a memory.[3][1]

Word family

  • obscūrātiō

Usage notes

The OLD lists a separate adverb obscūrō, from obscūrus, meaning in the dark, secretly or furtively.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ 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
  5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  7. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de