different between oblivion vs obscurity

English

Etymology

From Middle English oblivion, from Anglo-Norman oblivion, from Latin obl?vi? (“forgetfulness”), from oblivisci (“to forget”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??bl?v??n/

Noun

oblivion (usually uncountable, plural oblivions)

1. The state of forgetting completely, of being oblivious, unconscious, unaware, as when sleeping, drunk, or dead.

   He regularly drank himself into oblivion.

   Only the oblivion of sleep can heal the greatest traumas.

2. The state of being completely forgotten, of being reduced to a state of non-existence, extinction, or nothingness, incl. through war and destruction. (Figuratively) for an area like hell, a wasteland.

   Due to modern technology, many more people and much more information will not slip into oblivion, contrary to what happened throughout history until now.

   They tried to bomb them into oblivion.

   I will cast them into oblivion!

3. (obsolete) Amnesty.

Synonyms

• forgetness

Antonyms

• resurrection

Related terms

• oblivious

Translations

Verb

oblivion (third-person singular simple present oblivions, present participle oblivioning, simple past and past participle oblivioned)

1. (transitive) To consign to oblivion; to efface utterly.

Further reading

• oblivion in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• oblivion in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• oblivion at OneLook Dictionary Search

Middle English

Alternative forms

• oblivioun, oblyvyon, oblyvyone, oblyvyoun

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman oblivion, from Latin obl?vi?.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?b?liviun/, /?b?li?viun/

Noun

oblivion (uncountable) (Late Middle English)

1. oblivion (state of forgetting completely)
2. oblivion (state of being forgotten)

Related terms

• oblivious

Descendants

• English: oblivion

References

• “obl??vi?un, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Old French

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin obl?vi?.

Noun

oblivion f (oblique plural oblivions, nominative singular oblivion, nominative plural oblivions)

1. forgetfulness

Descendants

• ? Middle English: oblivion, oblivioun, oblyvyon, oblyvyone, oblyvyoun
  • English: oblivion

References

• oblivion on the Anglo-Norman On-Line Hub

English

Etymology

From Middle French obscurité, from Latin obsc?rit?s; synchronically analyzable as obscure +? -ity

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?b?skj????ti/, /?b?skj????ti/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?b?skj???ti/, /?b?skj??ti/
• Hyphenation: ob?scur?ity

Noun

obscurity (countable and uncountable, plural obscurities)

1. (literary) Darkness; the absence of light.
   • 1919, W. Somerset Maugham, The Moon and Sixpence, ch. 24

     I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.

2. The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
3. The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.

Synonyms

• (the state of being unknown): unknownness

Antonyms

• (the state of being known): fame
• (the state of being clear): clarity

Related terms

• obscure

Translations