Lethean

See also: lethean

English

WOTD – 16 January 2012

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /liːˈθi.ən/, IPA^(key): /ˈliθi.ən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Adjective

Lethean

1. (chiefly poetic, Greek mythology) Of or relating to the river Lethe, one of the four rivers of Hades. Those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.
   • 1667, Milton, Paradise Lost:

     They ferry over this Lethean sound.

   • 1813, Thomas Jefferson Hogg, The Memoirs of Prince Alexy Haimatoff, London: T. Hookham, jun., and E.T. Hookham, page 99:

     The cup which was offered to you when you departed from Elysium was to be the Lethean draught, which would make you forget the joys you had experienced[.]

   • 1828, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, volume I, London: William Harrison Ainsworth, page 80:

     Accordingly, she one day took the Lethean crown from off his head: immediately all his old ideas rushed on his mind, and inflamed him with an ardent desire to revisit his country.

Translations

of or relating to river Lethe

• French: léthéen (fr)
• Italian: leteo
• Latin: Lethaeus
• Spanish: leteo (es)

References

“Lethean”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

Anagrams

• entheal, leaneth