My sweet bride, neologist that she is, attempted to slide a word by me last week: "obliviate" She insists that, although it may not be contained in any dictionary, it makes perfect sense and I knew what she meant when she used it. Help!
So in what sentence did she use it Father Steve?
It *does appear in the Harry Potter Lexicon, and so, all over a galaxy of young sites.
http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/spells_o.html
So in what sentence did she use it Father Steve?
As we were driving by a site which purported to be a camp used in the early 1800's by First Nations people, there was no indication that anyone had ever lived there. My sweet bride said something like "The successor culture has a way of obliviating the evidence that a prior culture lived upon the land."
It *does appear in the Harry Potter Lexicon ...
I gotta pay more attention to what that spouse is reading.
The successor culture has a way of obliviating the evidence that a prior culture lived upon the land.
Combining "obliterate" and "oblivious"!?
tis an old word, formerly used in a rather different context:
Now rare.
[< classical Latin oblvium OBLIVIUM n. or oblvin-, oblvi OBLIVION n. + -ATE3. Cf. earlier OBLIVIONIZE v. and slightly earlier OBLIVION v.]
trans. To forget, commit to oblivion.
(I think that musick has it right.)
OED cites it from 1661 and 1835-40 (with tsuwm's definition), so I guess it was about due to be used again. Nice to see that it's still alive.
Nice to see that it's still alive
There must be a mating pair somewhere!
Sure is - musick pointed them out, above.