obscūro, āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. [obscurus], 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.