tenebrosus Latin · revision 4280

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=Catullus|origins=la tenebrae}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Classical): [tɛ.nɛˈbroː.sʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Ecclesiastical): [te.neˈbrɔː.s̬us]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''tenebrōsus''' (feminine tenebrōsa, neuter tenebrōsum, comparative tenebrōsior, superlative tenebrōsissimus); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|la|tenebrae|-ōsus|t1=darkness]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) ''Tenebrae'' continues [[itc-pro|*temazros]], from [[ine-pro|*temH-|t=dark]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates its first use to Catullus, 81/79–52/50 BC.^(Köbler 2010) Virgil uses it of dark air and of the Underworld's marsh.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It meant unlit, dark, gloomy, and Lewis & Short note that it is poetic and found in post-Augustan prose.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Ovid uses it of Tartarus and a dark cave, and Cicero, in a fragment, of dark stairs.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Georges 1913) Figuratively Tertullian calls a man obscure ''tenebrosus'', and Justinian's Code speaks of a most obscure error.^(Gaffiot 2016)

+

+ In Christian and medieval Latin it was dark, without light, bringing darkness, and often figurative.^(DMLBS) English ''tenebrous'' is recorded in the late 15th century, through Old French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81/79–52/50 BC – Catullus uses it.^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil uses it of dark air.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 160–220 AD – Tertullian uses it of an obscure man.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * late 15th century – English ''tenebrous'' is recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Dark, gloomy, unlit.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # ''(figurative)'' Obscure.^(Gaffiot 2016)^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tenebrae]]

+ * [[en|tenebrous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}