hide vs obscure what difference

what is difference between hide and obscure

English

Alternative forms

• hyde (obsolete)

Pronunciation

• enPR: hīd, IPA^(key): /haɪd/
• Rhymes: -aɪd

Etymology 1

From Middle English hiden, huden, from Old English hȳdan (“to hide, conceal, preserve”), from Proto-West Germanic *hūdijan (“to conceal”), from Proto-Germanic *hūdijaną (“to conceal”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewdʰ- (“to cover, wrap, encase”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”).

The verb was originally weak. In the King James Version of the Bible (1611) both hid and hidden are used for the past participle.

Verb

hide (third-person singular simple present hides, present participle hiding, simple past hid, past participle hidden or (archaic) hid)

1. (transitive) To put (something) in a place where it will be harder to discover or out of sight.

   Synonyms: conceal, hide away, secrete

   Antonyms: disclose, expose, reveal, show, uncover

   • 1856, Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling

     The blind man, whom he had not been able to cure with the pomade, had gone back to the hill of Bois-Guillaume, where he told the travellers of the vain attempt of the druggist, to such an extent, that Homais when he went to town hid himself behind the curtains of the “Hirondelle” to avoid meeting him.

2. (intransitive) To put oneself in a place where one will be harder to find or out of sight.

   Synonyms: go undercover, hide away, hide out, lie low, hole up

   Antonyms: reveal, show

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old English hȳd, of Germanic origin, from Proto-West Germanic *hūdi, from Proto-Germanic *hūdiz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kew-t- (“skin, hide”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- (“to cover”). More at sky.

Noun

hide (plural hides)

2. (countable) The skin of an animal.

   Synonyms: pelt, skin

3. (obsolete or derogatory) The human skin.
4. (uncountable, informal, usually US) One’s own life or personal safety, especially when in peril.
   • 1957, Ayn Rand, Francisco d’Anconia’s speech in Atlas Shrugged:

     The rotter who simpers that he sees no difference between the power of money and the power of the whip, ought to learn the difference on his own hide—as I think he will.

5. (countable) (mainly British) A covered structure from which hunters, birdwatchers, etc can observe animals without scaring them.
6. (countable, architecture) A secret room for hiding oneself or valuables; a hideaway.
7. (countable) A covered structure to which a pet animal can retreat, as is recommended for snakes.

Derived terms

Translations

Verb

hide (third-person singular simple present hides, present participle hiding, simple past and past participle hided)

1. To beat with a whip made from hide.
   • 1891, Robert Weir, J. Moray Brown, Riding

     He ran last week, and he was hided, and he was out on the day before yesterday, and here he is once more, and he knows he’s got to run and to be hided again.

Etymology 3

From Middle English hide, from Old English hīd, hȳd, hīġed, hīġid (“a measure of land”), for earlier *hīwid (“the amount of land needed to support one family”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *hīwaz, *hīwō (“relative, fellow-lodger, family”), from Proto-Indo-European *ḱey- (“to lie with, store, be familiar”). Related to Old English hīwisc (“hide of land, household”), Old English hīwan (“members of a family, household”). More at hewe, hind.

Noun

hide (plural hides)

1. (historical) A unit of land and tax assessment of varying size, originally as intended to support one household with dependents. [from 9th c.]
   • 2016, Peter H. Wilson, The Holy Roman Empire, Penguin 2017, p. 488:

     The exact size of hides varied with soil quality, but each one generally encompassed 24 to 26 hectares.

   Synonym: carucate

Usage notes

The hide was originally intended to represent the amount of land farmed by a single household but was primarily connected to obligations owed (in England) to the Saxon and Norman kings, and thus varied greatly from place to place. Around the time of the Domesday Book under the Normans, the hide was usually but not always the land expected to produce £1 (1 Tower pound of sterling silver) in income over the year.

Hypernyms

• (100 hides) barony

Hyponyms

• (¹⁄₄ hide) See virgate
• (¹⁄₈ hide) See oxgang
• (¹⁄₁₆ hide) nook
• farundel

Anagrams

• Heid, Ihde, hied

Albanian

Alternative forms

• ide

Etymology

From Turkish iğde (“oleaster”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhidɛ/

Noun

hide f (indefinite plural hide, definite singular hidja, definite plural hidet)

1. (botany) jujube (Ziziphus jujuba)

Synonyms

• xinxife

References

Middle English

Etymology 1

from Old English hīd, hȳd, hīġed, hīġid (“a measure of land”), from earlier *hīwid (“the amount of land needed to support one family”), a derivative of Proto-Germanic *hīwaz, *hīwō (“relative, fellow-lodger, family”), related to *hīwô (“household”).

Noun

hide (plural hides or hiden or hide)

1. hide (unit of land)

Alternative forms

• hyde

Descendants

• English: hide
• Scots: hyd, hid

References

• “hīde, n.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From hiden (“to hide”).

Noun

hide

1. concealment
2. hiding spot

Alternative forms

• hid, hyd, hyde

Descendants

• English: hide
• Scots: hide

References

• “hīd(e, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Noun

hide (plural hides or hiden)

1. Alternative form of hyde (“skin”)

Etymology 4

Noun

hide

1. Alternative form of hythe (“landing place, port”)

Etymology 5

Noun

hide (plural hides)

1. Alternative form of heed (“head”)

Etymology 6

Verb

hide (third-person singular simple present hideth, present participle hidende, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle hidde)

1. Alternative form of hiden (“to hide”)

English

Etymology

From Middle English obscure, from Old French obscur, from Latin obscūrus (“dark, dusky, indistinct”), from ob- +‎ *scūrus, from Proto-Italic *skoiros, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-. Doublet of oscuro.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əbˈskjʊə(ɹ)/, /əbˈskjɔː(ɹ)/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /əbˈskjʊɹ/, /əbˈskjɝ/
• Rhymes: -ʊə(ɹ), -ɔː(ɹ), -ɜː(ɹ)
• Hyphenation: ob‧scure

Adjective

obscure (comparative obscurer or more obscure, superlative obscurest or most obscure)

1. Dark, faint or indistinct.
   • 1892, Denton Jaques Snider, Inferno, 1, 1-2 (originally by Dante Alighieri)

     I found myself in an obscure wood.

   • His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness.

2. Hidden, out of sight or inconspicuous.
   • 1606, John Davies of Hereford, Bien Venu

     the obscure corners of the earth

3. Difficult to understand.
   • 1953, Samuel Beckett, Watt

     The lock was of a kind that Watt could not pick. Watt could pick simple locks, but he could not pick obscure locks.

4. Not well-known.
5. Unknown or uncertain; unclear.

   The etymological roots of the word “blizzard” are obscure and open to debate.

Usage notes

• The comparative obscurer and superlative obscurest, though formed by valid rules for English, are less common than more obscure and most obscure.

Synonyms

• (dark): cimmerian, dingy; See also Thesaurus:dark
• (faint or indistinct): fuzzy, ill-defined; See also Thesaurus:indistinct
• (hidden, out of sight): occluded, secluded; See also Thesaurus:hidden
• (difficult to understand): fathomless, inscrutable; See also Thesaurus:incomprehensible
• (not well-known): enigmatic, esoteric, mysterious; See also Thesaurus:arcane

Antonyms

• clear

Derived terms

• obscurable
• unobscurable
• obscureness

Related terms

• obscurity
• obscuration

Translations

Verb

obscure (third-person singular simple present obscures, present participle obscuring, simple past and past participle obscured)

1. (transitive) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
   • c. 1688′, William Wake, Preparation for Death

     There is scarce any duty which has been so obscured in the writings of learned men as this.

2. (transitive) To hide, put out of sight etc.
   • 1994, Bill Watterson, Homicidal Psycho Jungle Cat, page 62

     I realized that the purpose of writing is to inflate weak ideas, obscure poor reasoning, and inhibit clarity.

3. (intransitive, obsolete) To conceal oneself; to hide.

   • How! There’s bad news. / I must obscure, and hear it.

Synonyms

• (to render obscure; to darken; dim): becloud, bedarken, bedim, bemist

Translations

Further reading

• obscure in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• obscure in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Anagrams

• Cuberos

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔp.skyʁ/

Adjective

obscure

1. feminine singular of obscur

Anagrams

• courbes

Latin

Adjective

obscūre

1. vocative masculine singular of obscūrus

References

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

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