obfuscate

verb
/ˈɒbfəskeɪt/UK/ˈɑbfəskeɪt/US/ˈɒbfəskeɪt/CA/ˈɒbfəskæɪt/

Etymology

The adjective is first attested in 1487, in Middle English, the verb in 1536; either borrowed from Middle French obfusquer, offusquer, from Old French offusquer, or directly from Late Latin obfuscātus, offuscātus, the perfect passive participle of obfuscō, offuscō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from Latin ob- + fuscō (“to darken”). Doublet of dusken (“to darken, make obscure”).

  1. derived from ob-
  2. borrowed from offuscātus
  3. derived from offusquer
  4. borrowed from obfusquer

Definitions

  1. To make dark

    To make dark; to overshadow.

  2. To deliberately make more confusing in order to conceal the truth.

    • obfuscate facts
    • Can weakness be really obfuscated?
    • Before leaving the scene, the murderer set a fire in order to obfuscate any evidence of his identity.
  3. To alter code while preserving its behavior but concealing its structure and intent.

    • We need to obfuscate these classes before we ship the final release.
  4. + 1 more definition
    1. Obfuscated

      Obfuscated; darkened; obscured.

      • Also the vertues beynge in a cruell persone be nat only obfuscate or hyd : But also lyke wyse as norysshynge meates and drynkes in an sycke body

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at obfuscate. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01obfuscate02truth03genuine04counterfeit05deceitful06deceptive07deceive08trick09magic10occult

A definitional loop anchored at obfuscate. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at obfuscate

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA