Etymologically
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tenebricosus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [tɛ.nɛ.brɪˈkoː.sʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [te.ne.briˈkɔː.s̬us][1]

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

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