obscurum per obscurius

English

Etymology

From Latin obscūrum per obscūrius, “[to explain] the obscure by the more obscure”.

Phrase

obscurum per obscurius

1. Synonym of ignotum per ignotius (“explaining an obscure subject by resort to one even more obscure”)
   • 1834, “Review of Memoirs of the Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Hannah More”, in The Quarterly Review, volume 52, page 423:

     We have no doubt—in spite of those rumours to the contrary which took so preposterous a shape in the table-talk of Lord Byron—that Miss More’s part in the transaction was blameless; but she certainly owes little to the dull slipslop with which Mr. Roberts has contrived to overlay—obscurum per obscurius—the only page in her history that really demanded elucidation.

   • 2002, Anatoly Liberman, “Origin unknown”, in Donka Minkova, Robert Stockwell, editors, Studies in the History of the English Language: A Millennial Perspective, →ISBN, page 119:

     Ivy has been compared to Latin ibex ‘wild goat’ (that is ‘climber’), but, unfortunately, the origin of ibex is obscure […] and, according to the golden rule of etymology, one should never explain obscurum per obscurius.

   • 2012, Frank Ankersmit, Meaning, Truth, and Reference in Historical Representation, →ISBN, page 249:

     In the first place, it cannot be denied that Napoleon changed the political face of Europe in a mere ten years […]. To explain this by the intervention of some vast, impersonal force is undoubtedly an explanation of obscurum per obscurius at the very least, and it seems quixotic to deny that Napoleon’s rare talent as a military commander must have played a role here as well.

References

• “obscurum per obscurius”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.