Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun The condition or quality of being completely forgotten.
  • noun The act or an instance of forgetting; total forgetfulness.
  • noun Archaic Official overlooking of offenses; amnesty.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The state of being forgotten or lost to memory.
  • noun The act or fact of forgetting; forgetfulness.
  • noun A forgetting of offenses, or remission of punishment.
  • noun Synonyms Oblivion, Forgetfulness, Obliviousness. Oblivion is the state into which a thing passes when it is thoroughly and finally forgotten. The use of oblivion for the act of forgetting was an innovation of the Latinizing age, which has not won recognition, nor has the “Act of Oblivion” given oblivion currency in the sense of official or formal pardon. Forgetfulness is a quality of a person: as, a man remarkable for his forgetfulness. If forgetfulness is ever properly used where oblivion would serve, it still seems the act of a person: as, to be buried in forgetfulness. Obliviousness stands for a sort of negative act, a complete failure to remember: as, a person's obliviousness of the proprieties of an occasion.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun The act of forgetting, or the state of being forgotten; cessation of remembrance; forgetfulness.
  • noun Official ignoring of offenses; amnesty, or general pardon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun The state of forgetfulness or distraction.
  • noun The state of being completely forgotten.
  • noun A state of permanent unconsciousness existing after death

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun total forgetfulness
  • noun the state of being disregarded or forgotten

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin oblīviō, oblīviōn-, from oblīvīscī, to forget; see lei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman oblivion ( = Old French oblivion), from Latin oblīviō ("forgetfulness"), from oblivisci ("to forget").

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Examples

  • The real interesting story in oblivion is the one the player tells to himself using the tools at offered by the game's designers.

    A post for Xenia: Simulation and an apologetic explanation of Super Columbine Massacre RPG Ben Abraham 2008

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

  • It seems a little over the top especially the term oblivion for it has hapenned before has metane relase and as part fo the 5 previous great extinctions and hey the planet is as beautiful and life still thrives

    RealClimate 2009

Comments

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  • Oblivion comes to me a kingly guest,

    with hands compassionate and blessed steps.

    My guest comes strongly on,

    folding the distances, the dark unknown.

    - Ibrahim Naji, 'Oblivion'.

    September 16, 2008