Obnoxious Observations

What was it about that obnoxious, obstreperous and obstinate obstetrician? Why did she keep obstructing me with her obsolete and obvious observations? Her obscene and obdurate obsession with the obscure would soon obligate me to obtain an order to obliterate her!

The obvious common factor in many of the words in the preceding paragraph is the word fragment ob; even without knowing immediately what it might mean, many of the words carry a suggestion of contrariness, subtraction, or burden. Can we say any more than that, though?

The prefix ob comes from Latin; of course it comes as a prefix of a Latin root, and so we have to know both the meaning of ob and of the Latin root word to try to work out the etymology of a given word.

In many "ob-words", the prefix has a meaning of "contrary", "against", or even "across from". Thus,

• obambulate has the root ambulare or "walk", and means to walk around something.
• obbligato has the root ligare or "bind", and an obbligato is a musical direction indicating that a certain portion of the music must be played.
• obdurate (obduracy) has the root durare or "harden", so an obdurate person is "hard against" one;
• obfirm has the root firm or "harden", and to obfirm something is to harden its resistance;
• obfuscate has the root fuscare or "darken", so to obfuscate is to "bring darkness onto" something;
• obituary has the root itire or ire, meaning "to go", and comes from a phrase meaning "to meet (come across) one's death";
• object has the root iacere or "throw", so to object is to "throw against" one;
• oblate has the root latus which is the past participle of ferre, a word for "carry", and so an oblate object has been "carried toward" something - this word is used to describe a sphere that has been somewhat squeezed or flattened between two planes;
• obligate has the root ligare or "bind", and to obligate someone is to "bind them to" some requirement;
• obliterate has the root litera meaning "letter", and suggests rubbing out the letters of a document; a second suggested etymology refers to the root oblivisci, meaning "to forget";
• obloquy has the root loqui, meaning "to speak", and so obloquy is "speech against" something.
• obnoxious has the root noxius or "harmful", so to be obnoxious is to "bring injury to" something;
• obnubilate has the root nubus or "cloud", so to obnubilate is to cover with clouds, or to make obscure;
• obrotund has the meaning of being originally rounded, but then flattened.
• obscure has the root scurus or "cover", so to obscure is to "cover over" something;
• obsession has the root sidere meaning "to besiege", and an obsession is something that besieges you;
• obstacle has the root stare or "stand still", so an obstacle "stands against" one; the Latin phrase Nihil obstat, was used by the Catholic Church to indicate that a book had nothing objectionable; the phrase literally means "nothing against-standing".
• obstetrics has the root stare or "stand", so an obstetrician "stands across from" the woman giving birth;
• obstinate has the root stinare or "stand" or "persist", so an obstinate person "persists against" one;
• obstipation has the root stipare meaning "to compress", and refers to severe constipation caused by obstruction.
• obstreperous has the root strepere or "make noise", so an obstreperous person "makes noise against" one;
• obstruct has the root struere or "pile up", so an obstruction is "piled up against" one; similarly, an obstruent consonant is a consonantal sound made by obstructing the flow of air.
• obtect has the root tegere meaning "cover", and describes wings or other appendages on a butterfly or moth that have been covered over by a secretion that forms a shell or case.
• obtenebrate has the root tenebere meaning "darken", and means to cast a shadow over something;
• obtrude has the root trudere meaning "to thrust", and something is obtrusive when it "pushes against" one.
• obtuse has the root tundere or "beat" or "pound", so an obtuse thing has been "beaten against", and includes the related word obtund;
• obumbrate shares the root "umbra" with "umbrella" and "penumbra", and means to "overshadow".
• obvention has the root venire meaning "to come", and means an incidental occurrence, something that "comes across" one's path;
• obverse has the root vertere meaning "to turn" and so the obverse is "turned toward" one (and the reverse is not!);
• obviate has the root via meaning "road" or "path"; to obviate a difficulty is to find a way across or around it;
• obvious has the root via meaning "road" or "path"; something is obvious when it is right there in your path;
• oubliette comes to English from French, but has the same etymology as obliterate; an oubliette is a horrible type of deep, thin dungeon with an opening at the top, in which you can toss someone that you more or less want to "forget about";

In some "ob-words", the prefix has a meaning of intensification. Thus,

• obtain has the root tenere or "hold", and to obtain something is to "completely hold onto it";
• oblong has the root longus or "long", and to an oblong thing is "very long";

In some other words, the role of ob is not so clear, and we are left only with the underlying root. Thus,

• obese has the root edare meaning "to eat";
• obey (obedient, obedience) has the root audire meaning "to hear" and so an obedient person is one who "hears toward" someone;
• obeisance, a bow or nod of respect, comes from the same root as obey;
• objurgate has the root jurgare meaning "to quarrel", and so to objurgate is to "quarrel with (against)" someone.
• oblivion has the root levis meaning "smooth", and so to oblivate is to "smooth over";
• obscene may come from the root caenum meaning "filth"; an alternative explanation suggests that it indicates theatrical action that must occur "behind the scenes".
• obsequy ha the root sequus meaning "to follow", and so an obsequy is the last duty performed for a person after their death;
• obsequious haa the root sequus meaning "to follow", and so an obsequious person is someone who "follows after" or is eager to be a follower;
• observant has the root serve or "to keep", "to guard", "to watch", and so to be observant is to "watch over".
• obsolete has the root solescere meaning "to become accustomed to";
• obturate has the root obturare, and is similar in meaning to obstruct, and means to block passage through something. It is often used to describe the way a bullet, which is slightly smaller than the chamber, expands upon firing to fit the chamber snuggly.
• oppidan is a term used at a medieval university to describe nonresident students, who were instead townspeople, or residents of a university town who were not students. Apparently, the root ped is involved in the derivation, and the Latin word was oppidum meaning town.

And in some "ob-words", time and usage have worn the word down so that the ob isn't even completely there! Thus,

• occasion has the root cadere or "to fall";
• occident has the root cadere or "to fall", and indicates the direction towards which the sun sets;
• occiput (occipital) has the root cipitus or caput, meaning "head";
• occlude has the root claudere or "to shut";
• occult has the root culere or "to cover";
• occupy has the root cupare or capere, "to seize";
• occur has the root currere or "run";
• offend (offense) has the root fendare or "strike";
• offer has the root ferre or "carry";
• omit (omission) has the root mittere or "send";
• opaque for which the root is not clear;
• oppignorate, meaning to offer a pledge;
• oppilate, meaning obstructed by hairs or fibers.

  Being opened, the cerebral vessels were found oppilated, with all the symptoms of a congestion of the blood towards the head.

• opportune (opportunity) has the root portus or "port"; and is supposed to suggest that, like a boat coming into harbor, things are working out favorably.
• oppose (opposite, opposition, opponent) has the root ponere or "place"; "op-posite" and "ap-posite" illustrate how the prefixes and root work together.
• oppress has the root primere or "press";
• opprobrium has the root probrum, a disgraceful act; surely "op-probium" and "ap-proval" are illustrating modifications of the same root.
• oppugn has the root pugnare or "fight"; and means to fight against, and oppugnacity is the corresponding tendency to fight against things, to rebel.
• ostensible has the root tendare or "show"; and suggests that something has been done merely for show.
• ostentatious has the root tendare or "show"; the ob- prefix has been almost slurred away, but to be ostentatious is to "show off" something;
• ostent also has the root tendare or "show"; and signifies a sign or wonder; it's clearly related to portent as well.

Words that might be suspected of this root, but which are actually "innocent bystanders" include obelisk, obsidian, office, osculate and oscillate.

In Penelope Lively's book "Consequences", I ran across the word obstruse which is plainly not an obs word, but a variant spelling of abstruse. Oddly enough, in the same book she repeatedly refers to apposition of two things when I expected that she meant opposition.

Among its many contrivances, the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles has an extensive exhibit about Geoffrey Sonnabend, and his theory of memory and forgetting described in the book Obliscence.

It may be appropriate to mention some related Latin phrases, which crop up in English from time to time:

• obiter dictum, a legal term referring to remarks made in a judicial statement, that addresses issues beyond those directly involving the case at hand. The word iter means "the way" or "the journey" or "the road", and so the etymology is echoed in the common phrase "by the way";
• nihil obstat, a phrase printed at the beginning of a book that has been submitted to, and approved by, Roman Catholic religious authorities. The words mean "nothing objectionable"; the obstat is directly related to the root of "obstinate", so that there is "nothing standing against" the printing of this book.

And you may now proceed on your way, with no further obstructions, and let these obscure observations seek their obligatory oblivion.

You can go to the wordplay home page.