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Origin and history of opaque

opaque(adj.)

early 15c., opake, "dark, shaded, unlit" (a sense now obsolete), from Latin opacus "shaded, in the shade, shady, dark, darkened, obscure," of unknown origin. Spelling influenced after c. 1650 by French opaque (c. 1500), from the Latin. Meaning "impervious to the rays of light" is from 1640s. Figurative sense of "obscure, hard to understand" is from 1761. Related: Opaquely; opaqueness.

also from early 15c.

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Trends of opaque

adapted from books.google.com/ngrams/ with a 7-year moving average; ngrams are probably unreliable.

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clear
c. 1300, "giving light, shining, luminous;" also "not turbid; transparent, allowing light to pass through; free from impurities; morally pure, guiltless, innocent;" of colors, "bright, pure;" of weather or the sky or sea, "not stormy; mild, fair, not overcast, fully light, free f
Mexico
The etymology of this is opaque. Because of the difference in vowel length, it cannot be derived from ME-TL 'maguey.'...
penumbra
1660s, "partially shaded region around the shadow of an opaque body, a partial shadow," from Modern Latin penumbra "partial...
chalk
Cognate words in most Germanic languages still have the "limestone" sense, but in English transferred chalk to the opaque...
milk
"opaque white fluid secreted by mammary glands of female mammals, suited to the nourishment of their young," Middle English...
errand
Old English ærende "message, mission; answer, news, tidings," from Proto-Germanic *airundija- "message, errand" (source also of Old Saxon arundi, Old Norse erendi, Danish ærinde, Swedish ärende, Old Frisian erende, Old High German arunti "message"), which is of uncertain origin.
mirage
"optical illusion of objects reflected in a sheet of water in hot, sandy deserts," 1800, in translations of French works, from French mirage (1753), from se mirer "to be reflected," from Latin mirare (see mirror (n.)). Or the French word is from Latin mirus "wonderful" (see mirac
Atlantic
early 15c., Atlantyke, "of or pertaining to the sea off the west coast of Africa," from Latin Atlanticus, from Greek Atlantikos "of Atlas," adjectival form of Atlas (genitive Atlantos) as used in reference to Mount Atlas in Mauritania (see Atlas). The name has been extended since
fork
Old English forca, force "pitchfork, forked instrument, forked weapon," from a Germanic borrowing (Old Frisian forke, Dutch vork, Old Norse forkr, Danish fork) of Latin furca "two-pronged fork; pitchfork; fork used in cooking," a word of uncertain origin. Old English also had for
ain't
1706, originally a contraction of am not, and considered proper as such until in early 19c. it began to be also a generic contraction of are not, is not, has not, etc. This was popularized in representations of London cockney dialect in Dickens, etc., which led to the word being

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