obtusus

Latin

Alternative forms

• obtūnsus

Etymology

Perfect passive participle of obtundō.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /obˈtuː.sus/, [ɔpˈt̪uːs̠ʊs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /obˈtu.sus/, [obˈt̪uːs̬us]

Participle

obtūsus (feminine obtūsa, neuter obtūsum, comparative obtūsior); first/second-declension participle

1. struck, beaten, buffeted
2. blunt, blunted, dull, dulled, dim, dimmed, obtuse, unfeeling
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.567–568:

     “Nōn obtūsa adeō gestāmus pectora Poenī,
     nec tam āversus equōs Tyriā Sōl iungit ab urbe.”

     “We Phoenicians do not have minds so dulled, nor [is] the Sun god turned so far away from [our] Tyrian city [when] he yokes [his] horses [each morning].”
     (Regarding the Trojan War, Queen Dido says that her people are not so ignorant or unfeeling, nor figuratively unenlightened, as to be unaware of its significance. Note: Some Latin texts use the variant “obtunsa,” from obtunsus.)

Declension

First/second-declension adjective.

	singular				plural
	masculine	feminine	neuter		masculine	feminine	neuter
nominative	obtūsus	obtūsa	obtūsum		obtūsī	obtūsae	obtūsa
genitive	obtūsī	obtūsae	obtūsī		obtūsōrum	obtūsārum	obtūsōrum
dative	obtūsō	obtūsae	obtūsō		obtūsīs
accusative	obtūsum	obtūsam	obtūsum		obtūsōs	obtūsās	obtūsa
ablative	obtūsō	obtūsā	obtūsō		obtūsīs
vocative	obtūse	obtūsa	obtūsum		obtūsī	obtūsae	obtūsa

Descendants

• French: obtus
• Portuguese: obtuso
• Spanish: obtuso

References

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