I.to render dark, to darken, obscure (class.; syn.: obumbro, opaco).
I. Lit.: “obscuratur et offunditur luce solis lumen lucernae,” Cic. Fin. 3, 14, 45: “nitor solis,” Cat. 66, 3: “finitimas regiones eruptione Aetnaeorum ignium,” id. N. D. 2, 38, 96: “caelum nocte atque nubibus obscuratum,” Sall. J. 38, 5: “volucres Aethera obscurant pennis,” Verg. A. 12, 253: nebula caelum obscurabat, Sall. Fragm. ap. Non. 489, 10: obscuratus sol, obscured, eclipsed, Cic. Rep. 1, 16, 25; 2, 10, 17; Tac. A. 14, 12; Vulg. Matt. 24, 29; id. Apoc. 9, 2; Val. Max. 8, 11, ext. 1: “visus obscuratus,” dimmed eyesight, Plin. 8, 27, 41, § 99.—
B. Transf., to hide, conceal, cover; to render invisible or imperceptible: “neque nox tenebris obscurare coetus nefarios potest,” Cic. Cat. 1, 3, 6: “caput obscurante lacernā,” Hor. S. 2, 7, 55: “caput dextra,” Petr. 134: “dolo ipsi et signa militaria obscurati,” concealed, kept out of sight, Sall. J. 49, 5: “nummus in Croesi divitiis obscuratur,” disappears, is lost, Cic. Fin. 4, 12, 3: “tenebrae non obscurabuntur a te,” Vulg. Psa. 138, 12.—
II. Trop.
A. To blind, darken, becloud the understanding: “scio amorem tibi Pectus obscurasse,” Plaut. Trin. 3, 2, 41.—
B. Of speech, to obscure, render indistinct; to deliver or express indistinctly: si erunt mihi plura ad te scribenda, ἀλληγορίαις obscurabo, Cic. Att. 2, 20, 3: “nihil dicendo,” id. Clu. 1, 1: “aliquid callide,” Quint. 5, 13, 41; cf. id. 8, 2, 18: “stilum affectatione,” to render obscure, Suet. Tib. 70.—
C. Of sound, to pronounce indistinctly: “(M) neque eximitur sed obscuratur,” is pronounced indistinctly, Quint. 9, 4, 40: vocem, to render dull or indistinct, id. 11, 3, 20.—
D. To obscure, cover with obscurity; to render unknown: paupertas quorum obscurat nomina, Enn. ap. Macr. S. 6, 1 (Trag. v. 73 Vahl.): “fortuna res cunctas ex lubidine magis, quam ex vero celebrat obscuratque,” Sall. C. 8, 1.—
E. (Acc. to I. B.) To suppress, hide, conceal: “quod obscurari non potest,” Cic. Arch. 11, 26: “laudes,” id. Marcell. 9, 31: “veritatem,” Quint. 4, 2, 64.—Hence, to obscure, cause to be forgotten, render of no account: “magnitudo lucri obscurabat periculi magnitudinem,” Cic. Verr. 2, 3, 57, § 131.—In pass.: obscurari, to become obscure or of no account, to grow obsolete, etc.: “sin dicit obscurari quaedam nec apparere, quia valde parva sint, nos quoque concedimus,” id. Fin. 4, 12, 29: “omnis eorum memoria sensim obscurata est et evanuit,” id. de Or. 2, 23, 95; cf. id. Fragm. ap. Mart. Cap. 5, § 509: “obscurata vocabula,” obsolete, Hor. Ep. 2, 2, 115.
