English

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.

2. (by extension) Of or relating to death or forgetfulness.
   • 1938 April, Clark Ashton Smith, “The Garden of Adompha”, in Weird Tales, volume 31:

     Men said that the garden had been roofed over against the sun with great sheets of lead and copper, leaving no cranny through which the tiniest star could peer down. Some swore that the privacy of its masters during their visits was ensured by a lethean slumber which Dwerulas, through his magic art, was wont to lay at such times upon the whole vicinity.

Related terms

• lethal

Translations

References

1. ↑ “Lethean” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, v1.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.