English → Latin
“obscure” in Latin
obscūrusdark, dusky, shadowy; indistinct, unintelligible, obscure; intricate, involved, complicatedtenebricōsusfull of darkness or gloom, shrouded in darkness, dark, gloomycālīginōsusfull of mist, covered with mist, misty, foggy; cloudy; dark, obscure, gloomy; uncertain, dark, obscurecaecusblind (not seeing); blind, blinded (mentally or morally); blind, at random, vague, indiscriminate, aimless, meaningless,involvōto roll to or upon something; to roll about, wrap up, envelop, involve; cover, overwhelm; curl, coil up; veil; to involvabstrūdōto push or thrust away; conceal, hideperplexusentangled, involved, intricate, confused; unintelligible, complicated, intricate, inscrutable, ambiguous; dark, obscureimpediōto hinder, impede, prevent, obstruct, hamper, thwart; to embarrassincertusuncertain, doubtful, not sure, unsure; not knowing, doubting (said of persons); not known, obscure (said of things)ignōbilisunknown, obscure; baseborn, of low birth, base-born, ignoble
The English word obscure itself goes back to Latin obscūrus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
obscure adv.
Dark, dusky, obscurus, tenebricosus (with this difference, that tenebricosus itself denotes primarily only the obscuration of the atmosphere, or the want of light, whereas obscurus denotes either the effect of this want on the objects, or the want itself; to the former in luce positus is opposed, to the latter illustris): caliginosus (dark, without light): caecus (in which one cannot see; as, night, a house): somewhat obscure, subobscurus: an obscure night, nox obscura (overcast): nox caliginosa (dark): nox caeca or obducta (in which one cannot see any space before him): to make anything obscure, obscurum facere, obscurare (e.g., cubiculum, conclave): alicui rei lucem eripere (to deprive oflight). [Vid: also, DARK.]
Not plain, obscurus (unintelligible, uncertain, unknown): caecus (of which one sees no reason; e.g., morbus, carmen): involutus (veiled): non apertus ad intelligendum (not distinct): abstrusus (hidden, secret, e.g., insidiae; or, hard to explain and understand; e.g., disputatio): perplexus (confused, intricate; e.g., sermones, carmen): impeditus (complicated): incertus (indefinite, vague): ignobilis (unknown): somewhat obscure, subobscurus (of a speaker, etc.): to make anything obscure, alicui rei obscuritatem et tenebras afferre, tenebras obducere; lucem eripere et quasi noctem quandam alicui rei offendere (Cic., N.D., 1, 3, 6): to make a speech obscure, orationem occaecare: to be obscure, in tenebris latere; obscuritate involutum latere (to be hidden, not known): lucem desiderare (to be indistinct, of ideas): to be very obscure, crassis occultatum et circumfusum tenebris latere (to be wrapped in impenetrable obscurity).
Not illustrious, obscurus: an obscure name, nomen obscurum: of obscure birth or descent, obscuro loco natus; obscuris ortus majoribus (of an unknown family): nullo patre natus, terrae filius (not born in lawful wedlock).
obscure v.
obscurare (PROP. or figuratively): tenebras offundere or obducere alicui rei, or alicui (to overcast, so that anything is no longer in clear light, either litterally or figuratively); rei caliginem offundere (Liv.), or inducere (Velleius, more strongly): noctem offundere alicui rei: the light of a lamp is obscured by that of the sun, obscuratur et offunditur luce solis lumen lucernae: oblivion shall never obscure the remembrance of thee, tuam memoriam nulla oblivio obscurabit: to obscure the reputation, nomini or decori officere.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for obscure?
- The usual Latin words for “obscure” are obscūrus, tenebricōsus, cālīginōsus; also caecus, involvō, abstrūdō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.