Etymograph

English

obtuse

Obtuse comes from Latin obtūsus ‘blunt, dull’, from obtundō ‘to batter, beat, strike’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- ‘to push, to hit’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tewd-‘to push, to hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtundō‘to beat, strike’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEobtundō‘to batter, beat, strike’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEobtūsus‘blunt, dull’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obtuse
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611obtuse

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)tewd-‘to push, to hit’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEtundō‘to beat, strike’
  3. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEobtundō‘to batter, beat, strike’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEobtūsus‘blunt, dull’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500obtuse
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1611obtuse

Earliest quotation: 1611, Randle Cotgrave, Fouler: “Fouler. To tread, ſtampe, or trample on; to bruiſe,…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- ‘to push, to hit’

study, student, studio, etude, pertussis, 11 more

through Latin tundō ‘to beat, strike’

contusion, 6 more

Today it means

adj Blunt; not sharp, pointed, or acute in form.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)tewd- / obtuse

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