eternally

English

Alternative forms

• æternally (archaic)

Etymology

From Middle English eternally, eternaly; equivalent to eternal +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪˈtɜː.nə.li/, /ɪˈtɜːn.li/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (US, Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪˈtɝ.nə.li/, /iˈtɝ.nə.li/
• (UK, General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪˈtɜːn.li/

Adverb

eternally (not comparable)

1. For eternity; forever.

   I shall be eternally grateful for your assistance.

   • 2026 February 3, Glenn Speller, “Championship transfer window winners and losers”, in BBC Sport‎^[1], archived from the original on 4 February 2026:

     Finding realistic needle-moving signings is especially hard when clubs do not want to sell at this stage of a campaign, while you are eternally at the mercy of those with bigger teeth and sharper claws further up the food chain.

2. Unceasingly, recurringly.
   • 1908, W. B. M. Ferguson, chapter 1, in Zollenstein:

     The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast: Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.

Synonyms

• (for eternity): ever, forevermore, until hell freezes over; see also Thesaurus:forever
• (unceasingly, recurringly): ceaselessly, incessantly, nonstop; see also Thesaurus:continuously

Translations

forever

• Catalan: eternament (ca)
• Chukchi: таӈӄонпыӈ (taṇqonpyṇ)
• Finnish: ikuisesti (fi)
• French: éternellement (fr)
• Galician: eternamente (gl)
• German: ewig (de)
• Greek: αιώνια (el) (aiónia), παντοτινά (el) (pantotiná)

  Ancient Greek: αἰωνίως (aiōníōs)

• Hindi: सदैव (hi) (sadaiv)
• Icelandic: eilíflega
• Italian: eternamente (it)
• Japanese: 永遠に (えいえんに, eien ni), 永久に (えいきゅうに, eikyū ni)
• Latin: aeternō
• Navajo: hoolʼáágóó
• Norman: êtèrnellement
• Plautdietsch: eewichlich
• Polish: wiecznie (pl)
• Portuguese: eternamente (pt)
• Russian: ве́чно (ru) (véčno)
• Sanskrit: सर्वकालम् (sa) (sarvakālam)
• Spanish: eternamente (es)
• Turkish: ebediyen (tr), ilelebet (tr), sonsuza dek
• Ukrainian: ві́чно (víčno)

Anagrams

• enterally

Middle English

Alternative forms

• eternaly

Etymology

From eternal +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌɛːtɛrˈna(l)liː/, /ɛˈtɛrnaliː/

Adverb

eternally

1. In an eternal, endless, or permanent manner.
2. (rare) In a long-lasting way; non-ephemerally.

Descendants

• English: eternally
• Scots: eternally

References

• “ēternā̆llī, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 19 January 2019.