obscurus

Latin · adjective
Edited by: Kierán Meinhardt
Last edited: 2025-01-20
Meanings
Literal translation
dim
Categories
visual perception
Related Lemmata 2 ›

1. dim

1.a dim visual perception

Nam si obscurior et quasi caliginosa stella extiterit, pingue et concretum esse caeium, ut eius asspiratio gravis et pestilens futura sit; sin illustris et perlucida stella apparuerit, significari caelum esse tenue purumque et propterea salubre.

‘For if the star rises dim and, as it were enveloped in a fog, this indicates a thick and heavy atmosphere, which will give off very unwholesome vapours; but if the star appears clear and brilliant, this is a sign that the atmosphere is light and pure and, as a consequence, will be conducive to good health.’

— Cicero, De Divinatione 1.57

Genre: philosophy Provenance: Rome Date: 44 BC

Cicero. On Old Age. On Friendship. On Divination. Translated by W. A. Falconer. Loeb Classical Library 154. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1923. 364-365

Cite this entry
APA (7th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). obscurus (Lemma #2735). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/
Chicago (Author-Date)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). obscurus (Lemma #2735). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/
MLA (9th)
Meinhardt, K. (2025). obscurus (Lemma #2735). The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/
Harvard
Meinhardt, K. (2025) obscurus (Lemma #2735), The ZODIAC Glossary: A Cross-Cultural Glossary of Ancient Astral Science. Available at: https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/ (Accessed: July 4, 2026).
BibTeX 
@misc{zodiac2735,
	note = {[Online; accessed 2026-07-04]},
	author = {Meinhardt, Kierán},
	year = {2025},
	title = {obscurus ({Lemma} #2735)},
	url = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/},
	howpublished = {https://zodiacglossary.github.io/lemma/2735/},
}