Etymograph

English

obscuration

Obscuration comes from Latin obscūrātiō ‘darkening, obscuring, obscuration’, from *scūrus ‘dark’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘darkness, shadow’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-1‘darkness, shadow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skoiros1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*scūrus2‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrus1‘shadowy, obscure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrō3
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrātiō4‘darkening, obscuring, obscuration’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1843obscuration4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin obscuro
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin obscurus
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin obscuratio
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English obscuration
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1843, Thomas Carlyle, American edition: “Money is miraculous. What miraculous facilities has it yielded,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-Wiktionary, Latin obscuro‘darkness, shadow’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skoirosWiktionary, Latin obscuroreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*scūrusWiktionary, Latin obscurus‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrusWiktionary, Latin obscuro‘shadowy, obscure’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrōWiktionary, Latin obscuratio
  6. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūrātiōWiktionary, English obscuration‘darkening, obscuring, obscuration’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1843obscurationWiktionary, English obscuration. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1843, Thomas Carlyle, American edition: “Money is miraculous. What miraculous facilities has it yielded,…”

Equivalent to obscure + -ation

Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘darkness, shadow’

…

Latin *scūrus

Latin obscūrus ‘dark, dusky, indistinct’

Old French obscur

Middle English obscure

English obscure

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘darkness, shadow’

scene, shame, shadow, shade, scenario, squirrel, scenic, scotia, hoar, skene, 31 more

Today it means

noun The state of being obscured.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “obscuration”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin obscuro, Latin obscurus, Latin obscuratio. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- / obscuration

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