tenebricosus

Forms

tenebricōsus (feminine tenebricōsa, neuter tenebricōsum, superlative tenebricōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin tenebricus (“shrouded in darkness”) + -ōsus,^[1][2] formed like bellicōsus beside bellicus;^[2] the OLD refers it directly to tenebrae (“darkness”).^[3] De Vaan derives the noun from Proto-Italic *temasrā- (“darkness”), dissimilated from an earlier form with /m/, and traces it to Proto-Indo-European *temH-s-ro- (“dark”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is found from Varro on:^[4] Varro advises shutting hens in a dark place.^[3] Cicero, the first author Köbler records,^[5] speaks of a dark eating house.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

Catullus has it of a “dark road”, and Seneca of a cramped, dark little bath.^[3] Cicero also uses it of what is hidden in darkness because it is shameful: lusts that should stay concealed, and “that darkest time of your early youth”.^[3][6][2] In the Academica he calls the senses not merely obscure but benighted, a step beyond obscurus.^[2][6] Lewis and Short call it rare but classical.^[6] British medieval Latin uses it of the dark motions of the heart.^[7]

Timeline

• 116–27 BC – Varro uses it of a dark place for hens.^[3][5]
• 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of a dark eating house and of shameful hidden lusts.^[3][5]
• 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus speaks of a “dark road”.^[3][5]
• 4 BC–65 AD – Seneca describes a dark little bath.^[3][5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of places: dark, gloomy.^[3][6]
2. Of actions: concealed in darkness because shameful.^[3][2]
3. Benighted, dim (of the senses or the mind).^[2][6]

Word family

• tenebricositas

Related words

• tenebrae
• tenebrōsus
• English tenebricose

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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 c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d e f Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press