What does obviation mean?
Obviation is a formal noun for the act of making something unnecessary by dealing with it in advance. When a problem, risk, or requirement is removed before it can arise, its obviation has taken place. The word usually appears with 'of', as in 'the obviation of the need for further testing', and it suggests a tidy, efficient solution rather than a struggle. It is most at home in legal, scientific, technical, and bureaucratic prose, where precision about avoiding burdens or complications matters. Obviation is not about hiding or ignoring a difficulty. It means the difficulty has been made moot, so that nobody has to deal with it at all. The noun is much less common than its verb, obviate, so it tends to give writing a deliberate, somewhat elevated tone. It is useful because few other single words capture the idea of clearing something out of the way so thoroughly that no response to it is required. Prevention and avoidance come close but lack that sense of rendering a need redundant.
nounThe act of removing a difficulty, need, or obstacle in advance so that it no longer has to be dealt with. It is the noun form of the verb obviate.
- The removal or prevention of a need, difficulty, or obstacle before it arises, so that it need not be dealt with.
"The obviation of any need for a second inspection saved the project three weeks."
"The new software led to the obviation of manual data entry across the department."
"Her careful drafting achieved the obviation of nearly every dispute that might have followed."
Mainly used as an uncountable noun; the plural is rare and appears only when referring to separate instances.
"Each of the obviations built into the design reduced the maintenance burden."
To obviate something is, at its Latin root, to meet it in the road and clear it away, and the same root gives us obvious.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does obviation come from?
Obviation comes from the verb obviate, which was formed from Latin obviare, meaning to meet, to withstand, or to stand in the way. That verb derives from the adjective obvius, meaning in the way or meeting, built from ob (toward, against) and via (way, road). English took up obviate and its noun in the early modern period, and the same Latin root also gave us obvious.
Related word forms
How obviation is actually used
Formal and fairly rare, found mostly in legal, academic, technical, and administrative writing. It is neutral to positive in tone, implying efficiency, and is normally followed by 'of' and the thing that is made unnecessary. The verb obviate is far more common than the noun.
Easily confused with obviation
Obviousness is the quality of being easily seen or understood, whereas obviation is the act of making something unnecessary.
Obfuscation is the deliberate act of making something unclear, whereas obviation is the act of making a problem or need disappear.