obscure
/əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/ · adj
Meaning
- Dark, faint or indistinct.
- Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
- Difficult to understand; abstruse.
- Not well-known.
- Unknown or uncertain; unclear.
- To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
- To hide, put out of sight etc.
- To conceal oneself; to hide.
Etymology / origin
From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscūrus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- + *scūrus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-. Doublet of oscuro.
- *(s)ḱeh₃-(ine-pro)→
- *skoiros(itc-pro)→
- obscūrus(la)→
- obscur(fro)→
- obscure(enm)→
- *(s)ḱeh₃-(ine-pro)→
- obscure (English)
- Relations: root, inh, der, der, der, der
Related words
Descendant words
- obscuur(Dutch) (cog)
- obskuuri(Finnish) (cog)
- obskura(Ido) (bor)
- obscuro(Spanish) (cog)
- oscuro(Spanish) (cog)
Sources
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