obscurus

obscurus

Latin

Etymology

    A fossilised compound; from ob- +‎ *scūrus (“dark”), from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-, extension of *(s)ḱeh₃- (“dark”). Compare Old Irish cíar (“dark”) and Old English hār (“grey-haired”).[1]

    Pronunciation

    Adjective

    obscūrus (feminine obscūra, neuter obscūrum, comparative obscūrior, superlative obscūrissimus, adverb obscūrē); first/second-declension adjective

    1. dark, dusky, shadowy
    2. indistinct, unintelligible, obscure
      Synonym: opācus
      Antonyms: clārus, lūcidus
    3. intricate, involved, complicated
    4. unknown, unrecognized
    5. (of character) reserved, secret, close
      Synonyms: perobscūrus, clandestīnus, occultus, sēcrētus, arcānus
      Antonyms: manifestus, cōnspicuus

    Declension

    First/second-declension adjective.

    singular plural
    masculine feminine neuter masculine feminine neuter
    nominative obscūrus obscūra obscūrum obscūrī obscūrae obscūra
    genitive obscūrī obscūrae obscūrī obscūrōrum obscūrārum obscūrōrum
    dative obscūrō obscūrae obscūrō obscūrīs
    accusative obscūrum obscūram obscūrum obscūrōs obscūrās obscūra
    ablative obscūrō obscūrā obscūrō obscūrīs
    vocative obscūre obscūra obscūrum obscūrī obscūrae obscūra

    Derived terms

    Descendants

    References

    1. ^ De Vaan, Michiel (2008), “obscūrus”, in Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 7), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 422-3

    Further reading

    • “obscurus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
    • “obscurus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891), An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
    • “obscurus”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
    • Carl Meißner; Henry William Auden (1894), Latin Phrase-Book‎[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
      • of humble, obscure origin: humilibus (obscuris) parentibus natus
      • this passage is obscure: hic (ille) locus obscurus est
      • (ambiguous) of humble, obscure origin: humili, obscuro loco natus
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