different between occult vs obscure

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin occultus (“hidden, secret”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /??k.?lt/, /??k?lt/
• (US) IPA^(key): /??k?lt/
• Rhymes: -?lt

Verb

occult (third-person singular simple present occults, present participle occulting, simple past and past participle occulted)

1. (transitive, astronomy) To cover or hide from view.

   The Earth occults the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

2. (transitive, rare) To dissimulate, conceal, or obfuscate.

Translations

Adjective

occult (comparative more occult, superlative most occult)

2. (medicine) Secret; hidden from general knowledge; undetected.
3. Related to the occult; pertaining to mysticism, magic, or astrology.
4. Esoteric.

   • Elbows almost touching they leaned at ease, idly reading the almost obliterated lines engraved there. ¶ "I never understood it," she observed, lightly scornful. "What occult meaning has a sun-dial for the spooney? I'm sure I don't want to read riddles in a strange gentleman's optics."

Derived terms

• occult line

Translations

Noun

occult (uncountable)

1. (usually with "the") Supernatural affairs.

Translations

Related terms

• occultation
• occultive

English

Etymology

From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obsc?rus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- +? *sc?rus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)?eh?-.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??(?)/, /?b?skj??(?)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj??/, /?b?skj?/
• Rhymes: -??(?), -??(?), -??(?)
• Hyphenation: ob?scure

Adjective

obscure (comparative obscurer or more obscure, superlative obscurest or most obscure)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu

     the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word "blizzard" are obscure and open to debate.

Usage notes

• The comparative obscurer and superlative obscurest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscure and most obscure.

Synonyms

• (dark): cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct): fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight): occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand): fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known): enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

Antonyms

• clear

Derived terms

• obscurable
• unobscurable
• obscureness

Related terms

• obscurity
• obscuration

Translations

Verb

obscure (third-person singular simple present obscures, present participle obscuring, simple past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) 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.
   • c. 1688', William Wake, Preparation for Death

     There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

   • How! There's bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

Synonyms

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim): becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

Translations

Further reading

• obscure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obscure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cuberos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?p.sky?/

Adjective

obscure

1. feminine singular of obscur

Anagrams

• courbes

Latin

Adjective

obsc?re

1. vocative masculine singular of obsc?rus

References

• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• obscure in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• obscure in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette