1545, from L. conspicuus "open to view," from conspicere "to look at, observe," from com- intensive prefix + specare (see spy). Phrase conspicuous by its absence (1859) is said to be from Tacitus ("Annals" iii.76), in a passage about certain images: "sed præfulgebant ... eo ipso quod effigies eorum non visebantur."