Forgottenness

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The condition of having been left out of memory, attention or care so that little or nothing is remembered of a person or thing
2. A state in which someone or something has slipped out of recollection and been abandoned to obscurity over time
3. Being neglected and no longer recalled, a situation where a person or thing has fallen into oblivion and disregard

Etymology: "Forgottenness" is a plain compound: the past participle "forgotten" with the suffix "-ness" added. The suffix has a long lineage of its own. It descends from a Proto-Germanic formation that turned adjectives into nouns of state or quality, passing through Old English "-nes" and Middle English "-nesse" before settling into the form used today. That makes "forgotten" the real centre of the word. It is itself a participle built on the verb "forget", so the word stacks two layers of derivation on top of an ancient root. The result names the condition of having been forgotten, or the quality of being forgotten, in the same way "kindness" names the quality of being kind.

Synonyms: oblivion, obscurity

Antonyms: remembrance, memory