Obitum

Obitum is the accusative singular of the Latin noun obitus, which means death, demise, or end. In Classical Latin it primarily denotes the death of a person or the end of life, and it can also be used figuratively to signify ruin or decline. In Latin texts the word appears in medical, legal, and literary contexts, often as the object of verbs related to dying or to the concept of death.

Etymology and cognates. Obitum derives from obitus, from which the English word obituary is ultimately derived. English uses obituary for a published notice of a death, and the abbreviation obit is common in newspaper headings and summaries. In Romance languages, related forms exist as well; for example Portuguese uses óbito to mean death or a death notice. The semantic core—death or the moment of death—has colored related terms in several languages, though modern usage in everyday speech may differ from the classical sense.

Contemporary usage. In scholarly work on Latin literature and history, obitus and its specific form obitum appear as standard terms for death or demise within Latin sentences. Outside of Latin studies, the word is largely historical or specialized; modern references to death in many languages typically employ more common terms, while English frequently uses obituary or obit for notices of death. The term obitus remains relevant primarily in linguistic, philological, and textual contexts.