obscenus

Latin

Alternative forms
  • obscaenus

Etymology

Uncertain. Usually derived from Proto-Indo-European *ḱʷeyn- (“to soil; mud; filth”). According to Pokorny, cognate with inquinō, caenum, cūniō and whin.

Pronunciation

Adjective

obscēnus (feminine obscēna, neuter obscēnum, superlative obscēnissimus); first/second-declension adjective

  1. inauspicious, ominous, portentous
  2. repulsive, offensive, abominable, hateful, disgusting, filthy
  3. immodest, impure, indecent, lewd, obscene
    • 8 CE, Ovid, Fasti 3.675–676:
      nunc mihi cūr cantent superest obscēna puellae
      dīcere; nam coeunt certaque probra canunt
      Now it remains for me to say why the girls sing obscene songs,
      for they get together and recite certain indecencies.
      (The ancient Roman festival of Anna Perenna included merry references to a mythological prank: After Mars asked the elderly goddess Anna to help him woo young Minerva, a veiled Anna fooled Mars by entering his bedchamber herself and mocking the god once he realized the deception.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

Number Singular Plural
Case / Gender Masculine Feminine Neuter Masculine Feminine Neuter
Nominative obscēnus obscēna obscēnum obscēnī obscēnae obscēna
Genitive obscēnī obscēnae obscēnī obscēnōrum obscēnārum obscēnōrum
Dative obscēnō obscēnō obscēnīs
Accusative obscēnum obscēnam obscēnum obscēnōs obscēnās obscēna
Ablative obscēnō obscēnā obscēnō obscēnīs
Vocative obscēne obscēna obscēnum obscēnī obscēnae obscēna

Descendants
  • Catalan: obscè
  • → English: obscene
  • French: obscène
  • Galician: obsceno
  • → German: obszön
  • Italian: osceno
  • Occitan: obscèn
  • Portuguese: obsceno
  • Romanian: obscen
  • Spanish: obsceno
  • → Russian: обсце́нный (obscénnyj)

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