Forgetting

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /fəˈɡɛtɪŋ/

Definitions

1. The phenomenon of not retaining information or experiences occurs when memories fade, while also indicating a lack of awareness about past knowledge or events
2. The condition characterized by the inability to retrieve memories involves both the loss of past experiences and an unawareness of previously acquired information
3. The act or process of losing the ability to recall or retain information or experiences, including the gradual fading of memories and moments when awareness of past knowledge lapses

Etymology: The verb "forget" is built from "for-", a prefix meaning "away" or "utterly", plus "get". The Old English ancestor "forġietan" meant "to give up" or "to lose hold of," so the original sense was closer to letting go of something than to losing a memory. Over time the sense narrowed to the mind, and a sense of "neglect" or "fail to bring along" survives in phrases like "forget your umbrella." The "get" in the word is not the modern verb meaning "obtain." Its Old Norse cousin "geta" meant "to get, to guess," and the Old English form was reshaped under its influence. The root shared with German "vergessen" and Dutch "vergeten" suggests the word's core idea has been stable across the Germanic languages for a very long time. Forgetting, the form of the word meaning the act or process of losing memory, is simply the verb's ongoing form, so its history is that of "forget" itself.

Synonyms: neglecting, overlooking, disregarding, abandoning, losing track

Antonyms: remembering, recalling, retaining, recognizing, recollecting