obscure Latin · revision 32195

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=la obscūrus}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''obscūrē''' (comparative obscūrius, superlative obscūrissimē)^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|obscūrus|-ē|t1=dark, obscure]], the adverb of the adjective.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010) The origin of [[m|la|obscūrus]] itself is disputed: de Vaan thinks its first meaning was darkened or covered, and finds a stem [[itc-pro|*skoi-ro-]], from [[ine-pro|*skoh₂-i-ro-|t=dark, shady]], more likely than other analyses, but marks the reconstruction with a query.^(de Vaan 2008)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero,^(Köbler 2010) whose ''Academica'' says that we see either nothing of the things above or very dimly.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Of sight and sound it means dimly or indistinctly;^(OLD 2012) Gellius uses it of small particles pronounced faintly.^(OLD 2012) Of expression it means without clear definition, as Cicero admits he has said something rather obscurely, and cryptically, so that with a negative it means in plain terms: in the first speech against Catiline he says “I will not speak darkly”.^(OLD 2012) Of actions it means secretly or furtively, and the phrase ''obscure ferre'' is to make a secret of something.^(OLD 2012) It also means without notice, and of a person's life in an undistinguished way.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero of seeing dimly, speaking obscurely and acting in secret.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 165 AD – Gellius of sounds uttered faintly.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|dimly|alt=Dimly]], indistinctly; of sound, faintly.^(OLD 2012)

+ # [[m|en|obscurely|alt=Obscurely]], without clear definition; cryptically; with a negative, in plain terms.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Secretly, [[m|en|furtively]];^(OLD 2012) ''obscure ferre'', to conceal.^(OLD 2012)

+ # Without being noticed; in an obscure station in life.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obscurus|alt=obscūrus]]

+ * [[obscuritas|alt=obscūritās]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}