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obnubilation

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obnubilation

  • /ɒbnjuːbɪˈleɪʃən/ UK
  • [ɒbnjuːbɪˈleɪʃn̩] UK

Where it comes from

Borrowed from Late Latin obnūbilātiō. Compare brain fog as a similar metaphor. By surface analysis, obnubilate + -ion.

noun obnubilations

  1. countable, uncountable The action of darkening or fact of being darkened, as with a cloud; obscuration. 1610, John Healey (tr.), Sᵗ. Auguſtine, of the Citie of God: with the learned Comments of Io. Lod. Vives, bk 3, ch. 15, pp. 127–8, note e
  2. countable, uncountable Obscuration or clouding of the mind or faculties. 1753 Dec. 17th, John Rutty, A Spiritual Diary and Soliloquies in The Life of Samuel Johnſon, LL.D. (1791), aut. James Boswell, vol. II, “1777. Ætat. 68.”, p. 155
  3. countable, literally, rare, uncountable A veiling with or concealment in clouds. Homer, the father of the Poets, by these obnubilations, frequently rescues his heroes from the most imminent danger. Thus, in the third book of The Iliad, when Paris, defeated by Menelaus, is on the point of losing his life, Venus snatches him away in a fog: — // “Then, as once more he lifts the dea
  4. countable, uncountable Something that obscures or causes confoundment; an obfuscation. 1999, Balachandra Rajan, Under Western Eyes: India from Milton to Macaulay, Afterword, p. 206

Translations

Every language

noun action of darkening or fact of being darkened

Españolobnubilación

noun medicine: obscuration or clouding of the mind or faculties

Españolobnubilación
Françaisobnubilation
Italianoobnubilamento

noun veiling with or concealment in clouds

Françaisobnubilation

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Cite this
MLA

"obnubilation." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/obnubilation. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

obnubilation. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/obnubilation

Chicago

"obnubilation." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/obnubilation.

BibTeX
@misc{obnubilation_2026,
  title = {obnubilation},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/obnubilation},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}