oblivion

English

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oblivion

Wikipedia

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English oblivion, from Anglo-Norman oblivion, from Latin oblīviō (“forgetfulness”), from oblīvīscor (“to forget”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: əblĭvʹēən, IPA^(key): /əˈblɪviːən/

• Audio (US):

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• Audio (UK):

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Noun

oblivion (usually uncountable, plural oblivions)

1. The state of forgetting completely, of being oblivious, unconscious, unaware, as when sleeping, drunk, or dead.

   He regularly drank himself into oblivion.

   Only the oblivion of sleep can heal the greatest traumas.

2. The state of being completely forgotten, of being reduced to a state of non-existence, extinction, or nothingness, including through war and destruction. (Figuratively) for an area like hell, a wasteland.

   Due to modern technology, many more people and much more information will not slip into oblivion, contrary to what happened throughout history until now.

   They tried to bomb them into oblivion.

   I will cast them into oblivion!

3. A form of purgatory.
4. (obsolete) Amnesty.

Synonyms

• forgetness

Derived terms

• obliviate
• oblivionate
• oblivionize

Related terms

• obliviation
• oblivious
• oubliette

Translations

state of forgetfulness or distraction

Albanian: harresë (sq) Arabic: نِسْيَان (nisyān) Bulgarian: забраванство n (zabravanstvo) Catalan: oblit (ca) m Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: zapomnění n Danish: glemsel c Dutch: vergeetachtigheid (nl) Finnish: hajamielisyys (fi), unohtelu (fi) French: oubli (fr) m Galician: esquecemento (gl) m Georgian: გულმავიწყობა (gulmavic̣q̇oba) German: Vergessen (de) n Greek: λησμονιά (el) f (lismoniá), λήθη (el) f (líthi) Ancient: λήθη f (lḗthē) Hebrew: שִׁכְחָה (he) f (shikhkhá) Hungarian: feledés (hu) Ido: oblivieso (io) Italian: oblio (it) m, dimenticanza (it) f, smemorataggine f, smemoratezza f, scordamento m Latin: oblīviō f Latvian: aizmirstība f, aizmirsība f Macedonian: заборав m (zaborav) Middle English: oblivion Norwegian: Bokmål: glemsel m Nynorsk: gløymsle f Polish: nieświadomość (pl) f Portuguese: esquecimento (pt) m, olvido (pt), oblívio (pt) Russian: забытье́ (ru) n (zabytʹjé), забытьё (ru) n (zabytʹjó) Spanish: olvido (es) m, desmemoria (es) f, olvidanza (es) f (uncommon) Tachawit: itta (shy) Turkish: nisyan (tr), unutma (tr) Ukrainian: забуття n (zabuttja) Welsh: angof m

state of being completely forgotten

Albanian: harresë (sq) Bulgarian: забвение (bg) n (zabvenie) Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Czech: zapomnění n Danish: glemsel c Dutch: vergetelheid (nl) f Finnish: unhola (fi), unohdus (fi), unho (fi) French: oubli (fr) m Galician: esquecemento (gl) m German: Vergessenheit (de) f Greek: λήθη (el) f (líthi) Italian: oblio (it) m, dimenticanza (it) f Latin: oblīviō f Latvian: aizmirstība f Macedonian: заборав m (zaborav) Maori: korenga Middle English: oblivion Norwegian: Bokmål: glemsel m Nynorsk: gløymsle f Polish: zapomnienie (pl) n, niepamięć (pl) f Portuguese: esquecimento (pt) m Russian: забве́ние (ru) n (zabvénije) Spanish: olvido (es) m, oscuridad (es) f, olvidanza (es) f (uncommon) Swedish: glömska (sv) c, förgätenhet (sv) c Turkish: unutulma (tr) Welsh: ebargofiant m, angof, ebargofiant

state of permanent unconsciousness after death

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Esperanto: nekonscio Finnish: olemattomuus (fi) Spanish: please add this translation if you can Welsh: ebargofiant

a state of nothingness

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Danish: intethed Esperanto: abismo (eo) Finnish: olemattomuus (fi) French: néant (fr) m Italian: oblio (it) m Macedonian: ништожност f (ništožnost) Maori: korenga Spanish: nada (es) f Welsh: ebargofiant

figuratively: wasteland; a supernatural realm of waste, like hell

Chinese: Mandarin: please add this translation if you can Finnish: kadotus (fi) French: néant (fr) m Spanish: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Arabic: (please verify) نسيان (nisyaan), (please verify) سلوان (sulwaan) French: (please verify) oubli (fr) Hungarian: (please verify) feledés (hu) Italian: (please verify) oblio (it) Lithuanian: (please verify) Užmiršimas Serbo-Croatian: (please verify) zȁborāv (sh)/(please verify) за̏бора̄в Swedish: (please verify) glömska (sv) Turkish: (please verify) nisyan (tr), (please verify) unutulma (tr)

See also

• obliteration

Verb

oblivion (third-person singular simple present oblivions, present participle oblivioning, simple past and past participle oblivioned)

1. (transitive) To consign to oblivion; to efface utterly.

Further reading

• “oblivion”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “oblivion”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “oblivion”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• oblivioun, oblyvyon, oblyvyone, oblyvyoun

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman oblivion, from Latin oblīviō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɔbˈliviun/, /ɔbˈliːviun/

Noun

oblivion (uncountable) (Late Middle English)

1. oblivion (state of forgetting completely)
2. oblivion (state of being forgotten)

Related terms

• oblivious

Descendants

• English: oblivion

References

• “oblī̆viǒun, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin oblīviō.

Noun

oblivion oblique singular, f (oblique plural oblivions, nominative singular oblivion, nominative plural oblivions)

1. forgetfulness

Descendants

• → Middle English: oblivion, oblivioun, oblyvyon, oblyvyone, oblyvyoun
  • English: oblivion

References

• oblivion on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub