lethe
English
editPronunciation
edit- IPA(key): /ˈliːθi/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
Etymology 1
editFrom Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē, “forgetfulness”).
Noun
editlethe (usually uncountable, plural lethes)
- Forgetfulness of the past; oblivion.
- c. 1593 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedy of Richard the Third: […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene iv], page 197:
- So in the Lethe of thy angry ſoule,
Thou drowne the ſad remembrance of thoſe wrongs,
Which thou ſuppoſest I haue done to thee.
- Dissimulation.
- c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene vii], page 351:
- Till that the conquering Wine hath ſteep't our ſenſe,
In ſoft and delicate Lethe.
- 1980, Joseph J. Kockelmans, On Heidegger and Language, Northwestern University Press, →ISBN, page 241:
- What does it mean to say that the stream of silence originates in lethe? It means, above all, that the stream has its source (Quelle) in that which has not yet been said and which must remain unsaid: the "unsaid."
Derived terms
editRelated terms
editEtymology 2
editPossibly influenced by Latin lētum (“killing”).
Noun
editlethe (usually uncountable, plural lethes)
- (obsolete, rare) Death.
- 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i], page 120, line 219:
- Pardon me Iulius, here was't thou bay'd braue Hart,
Heere did'ſt thou fall, and heere thy Hunters ſtand
Sign'd in thy Spoyle, and Crimſon'd in thy Lethee.
References
edit- Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 11th Edition (2003)
- “lethe”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
- “lethe”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
Anagrams
editMiddle English
editNoun
editlethe (plural lethes)
- Alternative form of lyth
Old Irish
editNoun
editlethe
- Alternative spelling of leithe
Mutation
editOld Irish mutation | ||
---|---|---|
Radical | Lenition | Nasalization |
lethe also llethe after a proclitic ending in a vowel |
lethe pronounced with /l(ʲ)-/ |
unchanged |
Note: Some of these forms may be hypothetical. Not every possible mutated form of every word actually occurs. |
Categories:
- English 2-syllable words
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- English terms with audio links
- English terms derived from Latin
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English uncountable nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English terms with rare senses
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English nouns
- Old Irish non-lemma forms
- Old Irish noun forms