Jump to content

everlasting

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

[edit]
WOTD – 17 June 2025

Etymology

[edit]
Helichrysum basalticum, one species of plant often called an everlasting (noun sense 1) as its flowers retain their colour and form after being dried.

From Middle English ever-lasting (“(adjective) eternal, perpetual; constant; (adverb) eternally; (noun) eternity”),[1] from ever (“at all times, always, constantly; eternally, perpetually; regularly; etc.”)[2] + lasting (“continuing, lasting; eternal; etc.”).[3]

By surface analysis, ever (adverb) +‎ lasting (adjective).[8]

Pronunciation

[edit]

Adjective

[edit]

everlasting (comparative more everlasting, superlative most everlasting)

  2. Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
    1. Chiefly of a deity or other supernatural being: having always existed and will continue to exist forever; eternal.
      • 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Genesis xxj:[33–34], folio ix, recto, column 2:
        And Abraham planted trees at Berſeba, and called vpon the name of the LORDE yͤ euerlaſting God, and was a ſtraunger in yͤ londe of the Philiſtynes a longe ſeaſon.
      • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 9:6, signature [Mmm4], verso, column 2:
        For vnto vs a child [Jesus] is borne, vnto vs a Sonne is giuen, and the gouernment ſhalbe vpon his ſhoulder: and his name ſhalbe called, Wonderfull, Counſeller, The mightie God, The euerlaſting Father, The Prince of peace.
      • 1890, F[riedrich] E[douard] H[einrich] W[ulf] Krichauff, “The Customs, Religious Ceremonies, etc. of the ‘Aldolinga’ and ‘Mbenderinga’ Tribe of Aborigines in Krichauff Ranges, South Australia”, in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, volume 2, Adelaide, S.A.: H. F. Leader, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35; quoted in Sam D. Gill, “Altjira”, in Storytracking: Texts, Stories, and Histories in Central Australia, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1998, →ISBN, page 87:
        All of them, the good supernatural beings, they call also 'altgiva,' [apparently an early rendering of "altjira"] as well as the firmament, with the sun, moon, and stars; also the earth, and any things specially remarkable. The word 'altgiva' signifies that these had an everlasting existence.
    2. (philosophy) Synonym of sempiternal (“having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether”).
  3. (chiefly hyperbolic, informal)
    1. Continuing for a long period; eternal.
      this everlasting nonsense
    2. Happening all the time, especially to a tiresome extent; constant, incessant, unending.
      • 1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 99:
        It is never dark here, you are novv come to the Country of Everlaſting Day; VVhat think you? Is not this Eliſium?
      • 1761 February 12 (first performance), George Colman, The Jealous Wife: A Comedy. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […]; T. Becket, and Company, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; W. Jackson, […]; and A[lexander] Kincaid, and Company, […], published 1761, →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii], page 37:
        I'll diſpatch Them as ſoon as I can, but Heaven knovvs vvhen I ſhall get rid of Them, for They are both everlaſting Goſſips; […]
      • 1801, Robert Southey, “The Fifth Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume I, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 313:
        There from a cave with torrent force, / And everlasting roar, / The black bitumen rolled.
      • 1837, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Ernest Maltravers […] , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5:
        His countenance was prematurely marked by deep furrows, and his grizzled hair waved over a low, rugged, and forbidding brow, on which there hung an everlasting frown that no smile from the lips (and the man smiled often) could chase away.
      • 1837–1839, Henry Hallam, “On the General State of Literature in the Middle Ages to the End of the Fourteenth Century”, in Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, paragraph 38, pages 46–47:
        The French poetry, on the other hand, was deficient in strength and ardour. It was also too much filled with monotonous common-places; among which the tedious descriptions of spring, and the everlasting nightingale, are eminently to be reckoned.
    3. Of clothing or fabric: lasting a long time; very durable or hard-wearing.
      • c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 94, column 1:
        Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe than hell: / A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him; / On vvhoſe hard heart is button'd vp vvith ſteele: / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe: / A VVolfe, nay vvorſe, a fellovv all in buffe: […]
      • 1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, signature G2, verso:
        [W]ere't not for my ſmooth, ſoft, ſilken Citizen, I vvould quit this tranſitorie trade, get mee an euerlaſting robe, ſeare vp my conſcience, and turne Serieant.
    4. (botany) Chiefly in the name of a plant:
      1. Having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried.
      2. Of a plant or plant part: synonym of perennial (“active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons”).
        • 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Water Betony⸝ or Broune-wurte”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 44:
          The roote is threddy, like the roote of the ſecond kinde of Scrophularia, and is euer[-]laſting, putting forth yearely new ſprings, as alſo doth the rootes of the other two Scrophularies.
        • 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Smaller Orpins”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 417:
          [T]he ſtalkes and leaues of this [Telephium sempervirum or virens] indure alſo the ſharpneſſe of vvinter, and therefore vve may call it in Engliſh Orpin euerlaſting, or neuer dying Orpin.
        • 1640, John Parkinson, “Lathyrus. The Great Wilde Cicheling or Pease Everlasting.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1062:
          Lathyrus ſylveſtris flore luteo. Tare everlaſting. This ramping vvilde Vetch or Tare as the country people call it, becauſe it is the moſt pernicious herbe that can grovv on the earth, for corne or any other good herbe that it ſhall grovv by, killing and ſtrangling them: […]
    5. (US, regional, archaic) Used as an intensifier.
      • 1848, [James Russell Lowell], “No. II. A Letter from Mr. Hosea Biglow to the Hon. J. T. Buckingham, Editor of the Boston Courier, Covering a Letter from Mr. B. Sawin, Private in the Massachusetts Regiment.”, in Homer Wilbur [pseudonym], editor, Melibœus-Hipponax. The Biglow Papers, […], Cambridge, Mass.: George Nichols, →OCLC, page 18:
        The everlastin’ cus he stuck his one-pronged pitchfork in me / An’ made a hole right thru my close ez ef I wuz an in’my.
      • 1896, Stephen Crane, chapter I, in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 8:
        "Come home now," he cried, "an' stop yet jawin', er I'll lam the everlasting head off yehs."

Alternative forms

[edit]

Synonyms

[edit]

Antonyms

[edit]

Hyponyms

[edit]
plants

Derived terms

[edit]

Translations

[edit]

Adverb

[edit]

everlasting (comparative more everlasting, superlative most everlasting)

  1. Synonym of everlastingly.
    1. (chiefly US, regional, informal, archaic) Used as an intensifier: extremely, very.
    2. (obsolete) In an everlasting (adjective sense 1) manner; forever.

Translations

[edit]

Noun

[edit]

everlasting (countable and uncountable, plural everlastings)

  2. (countable, botany) Chiefly with a descriptive word: short for everlasting flower (“any of several plants, chiefly of the family Asteraceae (principally the tribe Gnaphalieae), having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried; also, a flower of such a plant”)
    • 1633, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], Thomas Johnson, “Of Golden Floure-gentle”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], enlarged edition, London: […] Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, →OCLC, book II, page 645:
      This yellovv Euerlaſting or Floure-Gentle, called of the later Herbariſts Yellovv Strœcas, is a plant that hath ſtalkes of a ſpan long, […] The floures ſtand on the tops of the ſtalks, […] of a bright yellovv colour; vvhich being gathered before they be ripe, do keep their colour and beauty a long time vvithout vvithering, […]
    • 1942, Emily Carr, “The Orange Lily”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; republished as The Book of Small (eBook; 0400201.txt), [Australia]: Project Gutenberg Australia, February 2004:
      With a backward look Small said, “What a lovely lily!” / “Well enough but strong-smelling, gaudy. Come see the everlastings.”
    • 1974 (date written), G[erald] B[asil] Edwards, chapter 7, in The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Moyer Bell, published 1981, →ISBN, page 313:
      'I am rather past looking like a flower, I am afraid,' she said. 'I can't see that,' I said. 'It is true perhaps it is too late now for you to look like a rose; but you can always look like an everlasting.' I really meant it for a compliment, and to put her in a good mood; but, woman-like, she took it the wrong way.
  3. (countable, archaic) Preceded by the: someone or something that lasts forever, or that that has always existed and will continue to exist forever; an eternal, an immortal; specifically (Christianity), God.
  4. (clothing, footwear, historical)
    1. Synonym of lasting (“(uncountable) a durable, plain, woven fabric formerly used for making clothes and for the uppers of women's shoes; (countable) a quantity of such fabric”).
      • 1837 March 6, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Sunday at Home”, in Twice-Told Tales, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers Co.; John B. Russell, →OCLC, page 33:
        There is a young man, a third-rate coxcomb, whose first care is always to flourish a white handkerchief, and brush the seat of a tight pair of black silk pantaloons, which shine as if varnished. They must have been made of the stuff called ‘everlasting,’ or perhaps of the same piece as Christian’s garments, in the Pilgrim’s Progress, for he put them on two summers ago, and has not yet worn the gloss off.
      • 1985, Eric Kerridge, “Jerseys”, in Textile Manufactures in Early Modern England, Manchester: Manchester University press, →ISBN, page 64:
        These everlastings, which were relatively new inventions, were finely woven, close set satins or broken twills with double or treble warps and single wefts, and were often figured or brocaded, those with bold flowers being known as Amens, signifying manufacture in the fashion of Amiens. Everlastings of one kind or another were used to make gaiters, shoe tops and liveries for sergeants and catchpoles.
    2. (obsolete) Short for everlasting trimming (“(uncountable) an embroidered edging used on underclothes; (countable) a quantity of such edging”)

Hyponyms

[edit]
plants

Translations

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ “ever-lasting, ppl. (also as n. & adv.)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  2. ^ “ē̆ver, adv.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  3. ^ “lasting(e, ppl. adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  4. ^ Joseph Bosworth (1882) “ǽfre, adv.”, in T[homas] Northcote Toller, editor, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 10, column 2.
  5. ^ “lasten, v.1”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  6. ^ “-ing(e, suf.(2)”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.
  7. ^ Joseph Bosworth (1882) “lǽstan”, in T[homas] Northcote Toller, editor, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary […], Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 612, column 1.
  8. ^ “everlasting, adj., n., and adv.”, in OED Online Paid subscription required⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, June 2025; “everlasting, adj. and n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Further reading

[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=everlasting&oldid=85278440"