different between scurvy vs obscene

English

Etymology

Noun usage possibly from the adjective scurvy influenced by or a variant of scurfy. Took on meaning of Dutch scheurbuik, French scorbut (“scurvy”), possibly from Old Norse skyrbjúgr, skyr (“sour milk”) + bjúgr (“swelling, tumour”) whence the Icelandic skyrbjúgur (“scurvy”). Compare German Scharbock, Late Latin scorbutus. Alternatively from Middle Dutch, from Middle Low German.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -??(?)vi

Noun

scurvy (usually uncountable, plural scurvies)

1. (medicine) A disease caused by insufficient intake of vitamin C leading to the formation of livid spots on the skin, spongy gums, loosening of the teeth and bleeding into the skin and from almost all mucous membranes.

Synonyms

• (vitamin C deficiency disease): Barlow's disease, Cheadle-Möller-Barlow syndrome, Cheadle's disease, land scurvy, Moeller's disease, Möller-Barlow disease, scorbutus

Derived terms

• scurvy grass

Related terms

• -scorbic
• scorbic
• ascorbic
• scorbutic

Translations

Adjective

scurvy (comparative scurvier, superlative scurviest)

1. Covered or affected with scurf or scabs; scabby; scurfy; specifically, diseased with the scurvy.
2. Contemptible, despicable, low, disgustingly mean.

   a scurvy trick; a scurvy knave

Synonyms

• (affected with scurf or scabs): roynish, scabrous; see also Thesaurus:scabby
• (contemptible): miserable, paltry, shabby; see also Thesaurus:despicable

Derived terms

• scurvily
• scurviness

Translations

See also

• morphew

References

• scurvy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2021) , “scurvy”, in Online Etymology Dictionary
• Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
• Who Named It? last accessed 28-Mar-2007

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscene (modern French obscène (“indecent, obscene”)), and from its etymon Latin obsc?nus, obscaenus (“inauspicious; ominous; disgusting, filthy; offensive, repulsive; indecent, lewd, obscene”). The further etymology is uncertain, but may be from ob- (prefix meaning ‘towards’) + caenum (“dirt, filth; mire, mud”) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *?weyn- (“to make dirty, soil; filth; mud”)) or scaevus (“left, on the left side; clumsy; (figurative) unlucky”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skeh?iwo-).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?si?n/
• (General American) enPR: ?b-s?n?, IPA^(key): /?b?sin/
• Rhymes: -i?n
• Hyphenation: ob?scene

Adjective

obscene (comparative obscener or more obscene, superlative obscenest or most obscene) (see usage notes)

1. Offensive to current standards of decency or morality.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: decent, moral, nonobscene
2. Lewd or lustful.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: chaste, nonobscene, pure
3. Disgusting or repulsive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonym: nonobscene
4. (by extension) Beyond all reason; excessive.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:excessive

   Antonyms: see Thesaurus:moderate
5. (chiefly Britain, criminal law) Liable to corrupt or deprave.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:obscene

   Antonyms: decent, nonobscene

Usage notes

• The comparative form obscener and superlative form obscenest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscene and most obscene.
• In criminal law, many jurisdictions distinguish between the terms obscene, indecent, and profane when regulating broadcasted content, with obscene typically being the most severe of the three categories.

Alternative forms

• obscæne (obsolete)

Derived terms

• nonobscene
• obscenely
• obsceneness (rare)
• obscenometer (humorous, obsolete)

Related terms

• obscenity
• obscenous (obsolete)
• obscenousness (obsolete)

Translations

References

Further reading

• obscenity on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Latin

Adjective

obsc?ne

1. vocative masculine singular of obsc?nus

References

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

Romanian

Adjective

obscene f pl

1. feminine plural of obscen