Obscure

Obscure

Adjective / Verb / Noun · /əbˈskjʊər/

Definition

(Adjective) not discovered or known about; not famous or well-known; unclear or hard to understand; not easily noticed; (Verb) to make difficult to understand, see, or discover; to conceal or hide; to block from view; (Noun, rare, archaic) obscurity or darkness.

Origin

From Latin obscurus (dark, shady, covered, obscure: ob- (over, against) + a root related to Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂- or *skeu- (to cover, to conceal) — the same root as sky (cover of the heavens), hide, house, and possibly shade). Obscurus therefore meaning covered over, in shadow, not clearly visible. The Latin giving both the physical sense (dark, shadowy) and the figurative sense (unknown, unclear, hard to understand). The verb to obscure following naturally: to cast a shadow over, to render unclear.