Etymograph

English

obscurity

Obscurity comes from Latin obscūritās ‘darkness’, from obscurus ‘dark’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃i-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skoiros1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*scūrus1‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscurus2‘dark’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūritās3‘darkness’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600obscurité3
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obscurite3
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1907obscurity3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin obscurus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin obscuritas
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English obscurity
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃i-Wiktionary, Latin obscurusreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*skoirosWiktionary, Latin obscurusreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CE*scūrusWiktionary, Latin obscurus‘dark’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscurusWiktionary, Latin obscuritas‘dark’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEobscūritāsWiktionary, English obscurity‘darkness’
  6. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600obscuritéWiktionary, English obscurity
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obscuriteWiktionary, English obscurity
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1907obscurityWiktionary, English obscurity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1907, Harold Bindloss, Toronto: “The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board…”

Equivalent to obscure + -ity

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

…

Latin *scūrus

Latin obscūrus ‘dark, dusky, indistinct’

Old French obscur

Middle English obscure

English obscure

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃i-

Today it means

noun Darkness; the absence of light.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “obscurity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin obscurus, Latin obscuritas. 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)ḱeh₃i- / obscurity

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