Etymologically
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obliviscor

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ɔb.liːˈwiːs.kɔr][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ob.liˈvis.kor][1]

Forms

oblīvīscor (present infinitive oblīvīscī, perfect active oblītus sum); third conjugation, deponent[1] Accius has the archaic forms obliscar and obliscier.[2][3]

Etymology

The origin is uncertain.[1][4] It is from ob- and a root that the OLD and Gaffiot compare with linō “to smear, rub out”, and Wiktionary with lēvis “smooth”, with the inchoative suffix ⟨-īscor⟩, so “to begin to erase”.[2][5][1] Lewis & Short connected it with līvor “dark colour”.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from Plautus, of forgetting something.[2] Köbler dates Plautus c. 250–184 BC.[6]

Semantic evolution

It meant to forget, to lose the memory of something, and to forget about what one ought to keep in mind, as in Plautus.[2] It also meant to forget to do something, to put a thing out of one's mind deliberately, and in Accius to forget oneself.[2] Cicero uses it with the genitive.[5]

Its noun oblīviō gave English oblivion, and oblīviōsus gave English oblivious.[7]

Timeline

  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it.[2][6]
  • 170–c. 90 BC – Accius uses it of forgetting oneself.[2][6]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To forget.[2]
  2. To lose sight of, neglect.[2]
  3. To put out of one's mind.[2]
  4. (reflexive) To forget oneself.[2]

Word family

  • oblīviālis
  • oblīviōsus
  • English oblivion
  • English oblivious

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com