oblittero Latin · revision 33600

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=derivation|attested=170–c. 90 BC, Accius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ɔbˈlɪt.tɛ.roː]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [obˈlit.te.ro]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''oblitterō''' (present infinitive oblitterāre, perfect active oblitterāvī, supine oblitterātum); first conjugation^(Wiktionary)

+ It is also spelled ''oblīterō''.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is disputed.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Wiktionary) Lewis & Short derive it from [[m|la|oblinō|t=to smear over]],^(Lewis & Short 1879) and Wiktionary from its participle ⟨oblitus⟩, influenced by [[m|la|littera|t=letter]];^(Wiktionary) Etymonline takes it directly from [[m|la|ob-]] and the noun for “letter”.^(Etymonline) The TLL gives as possible sources a phrase ⟨ob litterās⟩ (after Walde and Hofmann) or the prefix with a verb [[m|la|*litterō|t=to smear, write]].^(TLL) The OLD compares [[m|la|oblīvīscor|t=to forget]], with which manuscripts confuse it.^(OLD 2012)^(TLL) Festus reports that some ancient writers derived it from [[m|la|oblīviō|t=forgetting]], others from [[m|la|lītus|t=shore]], as marks on a beach are levelled by the waves.^(TLL)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The TLL records it from Accius, Cicero, Catullus and Varro on.^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010) Accius has a hatred among the descendants of Pelops, its memory long blotted out, being renewed: ''inimicitias Pelopidarum... oblitteratas''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its main sense is to cause to be forgotten, consign to oblivion:^(OLD 2012) Livy speaks of blotting out the report or the memory of an event, Catullus of commands forgotten, and Suetonius of a matter buried in silence.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Lewis & Short find it especially frequent in post-Augustan prose, above all in Tacitus, who uses it of sacred rites falling out of use.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It also means to cause to fall into disuse, as a mine in Pliny the Elder,^(OLD 2012) and to make disappear or efface, as the boundary marks of fields in Siculus Flaccus or a complexion faded by long study in Apuleius.^(OLD 2012) The literal sense, to blot out or erase writing, is rare and post-Augustan;^(Lewis & Short 1879) Tacitus has the records of the treasury erased.^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 170–c. 90 BC – Accius, of a hatred long forgotten.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(TLL)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero.^(TLL)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 59 BC–17 AD – Livy, of blotting out the memory of an event.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 98–115 AD – Tacitus, of erased treasury records and rites falling out of use.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 1600 – Its participle ''oblitterātus'' gives English [[m|en|obliterate]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cause to be forgotten, consign to [[m|en|oblivion]].^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To cause to fall into disuse.^(OLD 2012)

+ # To cause to disappear, [[m|en|efface]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To blot out, [[m|en|erase]], [[m|en|obliterate]] (writing).^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[inoblīterātus]]

+ * [[oblitterātiō]]

+ * [[oblitterator]]

+ * [[oblītterus]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[littera]]

+ * [[oblinō]]

+ * [[oblīvīscor]]

+ * [[en|obliterate]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}