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

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /obˈskeː.nus/, [ɔpˈs̠keːnʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /obˈʃe.nus/, [obˈʃɛːnus]

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.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	obscēnus	obscēna	obscēnum		obscēnī	obscēnae	obscēna
genitive	obscēnī	obscēnae	obscēnī		obscēnōrum	obscēnārum	obscēnōrum
dative	obscēnō	obscēnae	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.