Lethe

See also: lethe and Léthé

English

Etymology

From Latin Lēthē, from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈliːθi/

Proper noun

Lethe

1. (Greek mythology) The personification of oblivion, daughter of Eris.
2. (Greek mythology) The river which flows through Hades from which the souls of the dead drank so that they would forget their time on Earth.
   • 1782, Lethe, or Aesop in the shades: A dramatic satire, page 223

     come over—“But care, I suppose, is thirsty; and till they have drench’d themselves with Lethe, there will be no quiet among ’em” however, I’ll e’en to work; and so, friend Æsop, and brother Mercury, good bye to ye. [Exit Charon. AEs.]

   • 2015, Peter E. Meltzer, The Thinker's Thesaurus: Sophisticated Alternatives to Common Words (Expanded Third Edition), W. W. Norton & Company →ISBN

     oblivion n.: Lethe. In Greek mythology, Lethe (pronounced LEEthee) is one of the several rivers of Hades. Those who drink from it experience complete forgetfulness. Today it is used to refer to one in an oblivious or forgetful state.

Coordinate terms

• Acheron, Cocytus, Eridanos, Phlegethon, Styx

Derived terms

• Lethean

Related terms

• lethargy, lethargic

Translations

personification of oblivion

• Finnish: Lethe
• French: Léthé (fr) m
• Greek: Λήθη f (Líthi)

  Ancient: Λήθη f (Lḗthē)

• Inuktitut: ᓖᑎ (liiti)
• Italian: Lete m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: レーテー (Rētē), レテ (Rete)
• Korean: 레테 (Rete)
• Latin: Lethe
• Russian: Ле́та (ru) f (Léta)
• Spanish: Lete (es) m, Leteo (es) m

Anagrams

• Ethel, Leeth, Theel, ethel

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Latin

Etymology

Borrowed from Ancient Greek Λήθη (Lḗthē).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈleː.tʰeː/, [ˈɫ̪eːt̪ʰeː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈle.te/, [ˈlɛːt̪e]

Proper noun

Lēthē f sg (genitive Lēthēs); first declension (Greek)

1. (Greek mythology) the river Lethe, the river of oblivion

Declension

First-declension noun (Greek-type), with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Lēthē
Genitive	Lēthēs
Dative	Lēthae
Accusative	Lēthēn
Ablative	Lēthē
Vocative	Lēthē
Locative	Lēthae

Derived terms

• Lēthaeus

References

• “Lethe”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Lethe”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• Lethe in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.