Oblivion

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /əˈblɪviːən/

Definitions

1. A state of being completely forgotten or no longer existing in memory or awareness
2. A condition of complete erasure from memory and consciousness, or the state of ceasing to exist or be remembered
3. The quality or state of being utterly forgotten, ignored, or no longer in anyone's awareness or recollection

Etymology: Latin "oblivio" meant simply "forgetfulness," and it came from the verb "oblivisci," "to forget." That verb is itself thought to combine a prefix with a root related to "lēvis"-type ideas of smoothness, so the picture behind it is of something slipping away from the mind. Word-building of this kind is common in Latin, and the English noun inherited the same plain sense: a state in which something has passed out of memory altogether. The word reached English through Anglo-Norman, the French-influenced language of the English ruling classes after 1066, and appeared in Middle English. Its meaning has stayed remarkably stable across the centuries. Where it once described forgetting a lesson or a debt, it now often carries a heavier sense, of being consigned to nothing at all, as when a person sinks into obscurity or a ship disappears into the sea.

Synonyms: forgetfulness, unawareness, nothingness

Antonyms: awareness, consciousness