Lexic.us

Definition of Lethe

1. Noun. (Greek mythology) a river in Hades; the souls of the dead had to drink from it, which made them forget all they had done and suffered when they were alive.

Definition of Lethe

1. n. Death.

2. n. A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.

Definition of Lethe

1. Proper noun. (Greek mythology) The personification of oblivion, daughter of Eris; one of the rivers which flow through Hades, and from which the souls of the dead had to drink to forget their past lives spent on Earth. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Lethe

1. forgetfulness [n -S] : LETHEAN [adj] - See also: forgetfulness

Medical Definition of Lethe

1. 1. A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past. 2. Oblivion; a draught of oblivion; forgetfulness. Origin: L, fr. Gr, prop, forgetfulness; akin to to forget, to escape notice. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Lethe

Literary usage of Lethe

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to by Robert Nares (1859)
"lethe'D. Shakespeare has coined a kind of participle from lethe, by which he would convey the sense of absorbed in oblivion. That sleep and feeding may ..."

2. Graham's Magazine by Graham, George R, Edgar Allan Poe, John Davis Batchelder Collection (Library of Congress) (1848)
"lethe. BY HENRY B. Agn*n tunt mare ... Роя. Looking likt lethe, ste ! the lake A conscious slumber ..."

3. A Glossary: Or, Collection of Words, Phrases, Names, and Allusions to by Robert Nares, James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps, Thomas Wright (1901)
"lethe is once nsed by Shakespeare for death, though he generally takes it in the proper ... lethe'D. Shakespeare has coined a kind of participle from lethe, ..."

4. Sonnets of this Century by William Sharp (1886)
"lethe. I HAD a dream of lethe, of the brink Of leaden waters, whither many ... Oh, who will give me, chained to Thought's dull strand, A draught of lethe, ..."

5. The Myths of Plato by Plato (1905)
"It is easy to account, from the literary sources open to Dante, for the presence of rivers, and more particularly of lethe, in his Earthly Paradise. ..."

Other Resources: