oblivium

O1B3L1I1V4I1U1M3

noun

Oblivion.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounoblivium (uncountable)
  1. nonstandardobsoleterareuncountableOblivion.

    Best friend of frail humanity, and like all other friends best estimated in its loss. Who has not known the value of oblivium whene’er some newly past or close impending evil has flung its giant shadows athwart the morning twilight of the soul?

    1823 May, Arietta [pseudonym], “Sleep.—A Fragment.”, in The European Magazine, and London Review: […], volume 83, London: […] [F]or the Proprietors, by Lupton Relfe, […], page 389, columns 1–2
    5 more examples

    Perſley, Petroſelinum, or Apium hortenſe; being hot and dry, opens Obſtructions, is very Diuretic, yet nouriſhing, edulcorated in ſhifted warm Water (the Roots eſpecially) but of leſs Vertue than Alexanders; nor ſo convenient in our crude Sallet, as when decocted on a Medicinal Account. Some few tops of the tender Leaves may yet be admitted; tho’ it was of old, we read, never brought to the Table at all, as ſacred to Oblivium and the Defunct.

    1699, John Evelyn, Acetaria. A Discourse of Sallets., London: […] B[enjamin] Tooke […], page 54

    To this purpose, calling to mind how their dissenting in matter of worship and Church government, from that which was used and established in the rest of our dominions, was the chief, if not the only, cause of the late disorders amongst them; we have thought it the best way, for preventing the like in time to come, as to comprehend them in the common Act of Oblivium; […]

    1815, William Berry, compiler, The History of the Island of Guernsey, Part of the Ancient Duchy of Normandy, from the Remotest Period of Antiquity to the Year 1814. […], London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and John Hatchard, […], page 260

    Sometimes the attack consists in a momentary loss of consciousness, “oblivium quoddam et delirium adeo breve, ut fere ad se redeat, priusquam ab adstantibus animadvertatur.” — Heberdeni Comment., cap. 33. Sometimes this oblivium precedes the attack of convulsion. […] Does such a spasmodic action take place in the muscles of the neck unnoticed, compress the veins which convey the blood from the brain, and induce the oblivium to which I have just alluded?

    1838 April 14, Marshall Hall, “Lectures on the Theory and Practice of Medicine; Now in Course of Delivery at the Theatre of Anatomy and Medicine, Webb-Street, Southwark”, in Thomas Wakley, editor, The Lancet, […], volume II, number 763, London: […] [F]or the Editor, by George Churchill, […], page 67, columns 1–2

    There is no order, no degree, in which the muscles of the neck may not act, and in which the veins of the neck may not be compressed; there is no form of cerebral and spinal paroxysmal derangement—from a momentary oblivium or delirium to coma or mania—from the slightest spasmodic or paralytic affection to epilepsy or hemiplegia—which may not take place as consequences of that compression. […] Let us imagine a similar condition of the internal jugular; there will be a state of blushing, in other words, of congestion of the cerebrum, with oblivium, stupor, or even apoplexy. […] This statement may be expanded into the different modes and forms of diseases of the nervous system, in their cerebral and spinal portions. Hence we have stupor, oblivium, cerebral epilepsy, vertigo, headach, delirium, flashes of light, muscæ, flocci, dimness, amaurosis in every degree, tinnitus, and other noises, dulness, deafness; […]

    1849 March 17, Marshall Hall, “Observations on the Neck as a Medical Region, on Trachelismus, and on Paroxysmal Diseases of the Nervous System. (Second Series.)”, in Thomas Wakley, editor, The Lancet. […], volume I, number 1333, London: […] [F]or the Editor, […] by George Churchill, […], pages 285–287

    These premonitory symptoms are, dull pain in the head, with a sense of weight or heaviness, the pain may be located at any part, but mostly around the occipital region; […] slight faintness or vertigo, with paleness of countenance, and momentary disturbed intellect or oblivium; […]

    1867, John King, The Causes, Symptoms, Diagnosis, Pathology, and Treatment of Chronic Diseases, Cincinnati, Oh.: […] Moore, Wilstach & Baldwin, page 200

Origin

  1. Latinoblīvium
  2. Englishoblivium

From Latin oblīvium.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

oblivium. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblivium

MLA

“oblivium.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblivium. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oblivium,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oblivium.

Source: oblivium on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.