entry
obtuse
/əbˈtuːs/Blunt, dull, or slow to perceive
From Latin ob (against) + Latin tund (to beat).
from Latin obtusus "blunted, dull," also used figuratively, past participle of obtundere "to beat against, make dull,"
from Latin obtusus "blunted, dull," also used figuratively, past participle of obtundere "to beat against, make dull,"
Word Ancestry
from Latin obtusus "blunted, dull," also used figuratively, past participle of obtundere "to beat against, make dull,"
from Latin obtusus "blunted, dull," also used figuratively, past participle of obtundere "to beat against, make dull,"
A blunt object can become a blunt idea, and Latin was happy to make that leap. The Romans had ob-, a prefix for being pressed against something, and tundere, “to beat” — the same hard-hitting family that gives us obtund, contuse, and the whole business of being thumped into dullness. Put them together and you get obtusus, something literally “beaten down” or “blunted,” which English borrowed in the early 1400s. By around 1500, people were using it for a person whose mind seemed just as unsharpened as a worn-down blade. Then geometry got hold of it in the 1560s and turned insult into mathematics: an obtuse angle is simply one that refuses to stay right. Tomorrow, you can remember it as the word for anything that has been battered past the point of sharpness — metal, sound, or brain.
The Story
A blunt object can become a blunt idea, and Latin was happy to make that leap. The Romans had ob-, a prefix for being pressed against something, and tundere, “to beat” — the same hard-hitting family that gives us obtund, contuse, and the whole business of being thumped into dullness. Put them together and you get obtusus, something literally “beaten down” or “blunted,” which English borrowed in the early 1400s. By around 1500, people were using it for a person whose mind seemed just as unsharpened as a worn-down blade. Then geometry got hold of it in the 1560s and turned insult into mathematics: an obtuse angle is simply one that refuses to stay right. Tomorrow, you can remember it as the word for anything that has been battered past the point of sharpness — metal, sound, or brain.
Kin & Kindred
From 'ob'·against, toward, in front of
Derived Terms
English words from this root
From 'tund'·to beat, strike, pound
Derived Terms
English words from this root
Sources
Free Dictionary
Urban Dictionary