obscure origins
Hazy ancestral roots
Something with obscure origins has beginnings that are unclear, unknown, or difficult to trace.
The phrase often describes words, traditions, or customs whose history has been lost or never recorded: The dish has obscure origins, though some trace it to medieval Spain.
It can also apply to people who rose from anonymity: a leader of obscure origins who became a national figure.
- ancient artifactsObjects from past civilizations
- cosmic phenomenaLarge-scale space occurrences
- proto-languagesReconstructed linguistic ancestors
- folk traditionsCommunity customs across generations
- loanwordsAdopted foreign vocabulary
lost civilizations · dark ages · secret societies · smoke and mirrors · founding myths · family secrets · oral histories · word of mouth · old wives' tales · ancestral customs · taboo subjects · blood rituals · extinct species · dead languages · urban legends · trade routes · idiomatic expressions · hidden meanings
obscure originsstoried past
obscure, obscures, obscured, obscuring, obscurely, obscureness, obscurity, obscurantism, origin