eternal

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English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Late Latin aeternālis, from Latin aeternus (“eternal”), from aevum (“age”). Displaced native Old English ēċe.

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

eternal (not comparable)

  1. Lasting forever; unending.
    • 1690, Locke, John, An Essay Concerning Human Understanding:
      But here again it is another question, quite different from our having an idea of eternity, to know whether there were any real being, whose duration has been eternal.
    • 1700 [c. 1387–1400], Dryden, John, transl., “Palamon and Arcite”, in Fables, Ancient and Modern, translation of The Knight's Tale by Geoffrey Chaucer:
      Thy smoking altar shall be fat with food / Of incense and the grateful steam of blood; / Burnt-offerings morn and evening shall be thine, / And fires eternal in thy temple shine.
    • 2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club‎[1]:
      In a bid to understand the eternal mystery that is woman, Bart goes to the least qualified possible source for advice and counsel: his father, who remarkably seems to have made it to his mid-30s without quite figuring out much of anything.
    Synonyms: agelong, endless, everlasting, permanent, sempiternal, unending; see also Thesaurus:eternal
    Antonyms: ephemeral, momentary, transient; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral
  2. (philosophy) existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly
    Synonyms: timeless, atemporal; see also Thesaurus:timeless
  3. (hyperbolic) Constant; perpetual; ceaseless; ever-present.
    • 1912, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World‎[2]:
      Beneath him you might have seen the three of us - myself, sunburnt, young, and vigorous after our open-air tramp; Summerlee, solemn but still critical, behind his eternal pipe; Lord John, as keen as a razor-edge, with his supple, alert figure leaning upon his rifle, and his eager eyes fixed eagerly upon the speaker.
  4. (dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.
    some eternal villain
    Synonym: awful

Usage notes[edit]

May be used postpositively, as in peace eternal, possibly as a result of Latin influence.[1]

Derived terms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Noun[edit]

eternal (plural eternals)

  1. One who lives forever; an immortal.
    • 2012, D. E. Phoenix, Revelations of the Fallen: The Blasphemy of Astrial Belthromoto:
      Yes, I want that raw power that is only offered to the eternals or creators

References[edit]

  1. ^ Peter Hugoe Matthews (2014) The Positions of Adjectives in English, Oxford Univeristy Press, →ISBN, page 172

Anagrams[edit]

Catalan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aeternālis, attested from the 14th century.[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

Adjective[edit]

eternal (masculine and feminine plural eternals)

  1. eternal
    Synonym: etern

References[edit]

  1. ^ “eternal”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2022

Further reading[edit]

Galician[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aeternālis.

Adjective[edit]

eternal m or f (plural eternais)

  1. (formal) eternal
    Synonym: eterno

Further reading[edit]

Middle English[edit]

Alternative forms[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel, from Latin aeternālis; equivalent to eterne +‎ -al.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • IPA(key): /ɛːtɛrˈnaːl/, /ɛːˈtɛrnal/, /ɛːtɛrˈnɛːl/

Adjective[edit]

eternal

  1. Eternal, permanent; having existed (and existing) forever.
  2. Endless, unending; lasting forever.
  3. (rare) Long-lasting; non-ephemeral.

Synonyms[edit]

Descendants[edit]

  • English: eternal, tarnal
  • Scots: eternal

References[edit]

Occitan[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aeternālis.

Pronunciation[edit]

  • Audio (Languedocien)(file)

Adjective[edit]

eternal m (feminine singular eternala, masculine plural eternals, feminine plural eternalas)

  1. eternal
    Synonym: etèrn

Portuguese[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aeternālis.

Adjective[edit]

eternal m or f (plural eternais, not comparable)

  1. eternal
    Synonym: eterno

Further reading[edit]

  • “eternal” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Latin aeternālis.

Adjective[edit]

eternal (plural eternales)

  1. eternal
    Synonym: eterno

Further reading[edit]

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