immortal

English

Etymology

From Latin immortālis, from prefix im- (“not”) (from in-) + mortālis (“mortal”) (from mors (“death”), combining form mort- + adjectival suffix -alis), equivalent to im- +‎ mortal. Displaced native undeadly, from Old English undēadlīċ.

The term referring to the Persian soldiers was a Calque of Ancient Greek ἀθάνατος (athánatos). One suggestion claimed that "Immortals" were named by the ancient Greeks because wounded soldiers were quickly replaced, while another claimed that it was because Greek informants confused Old Persian *anauša- (“immortal, without death”) with Old Persian *anūšiya- (“companion, royal bodyguard”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɔɹtəl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪˈmɔːtəl/
• Hyphenation: im‧mor‧tal

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)təl

Adjective

immortal (not comparable)

1. Not susceptible to death; living forever; never dying.
2. Never to be forgotten; that merits being always remembered.

   his immortal words

3. Connected with or relating to immortality.
   • c. 1606–1607 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Anthonie and Cleopatra”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene ii]:

     I have immortal longings in me.

4. (obsolete) Exceedingly great; excessive; grievous.
   • 1603, John Hayward, The Right of Succession Asserted:

     immortal and mercyless butchery

Synonyms

• deathless
• everlasting
• undeadly
• undying

Antonyms

• mortal

Derived terms

• by the immortal powers
• immortalise
• immortalism
• immortalist
• immortality
• immortalize
• immortal jellyfish
• immortally
• immortalness
• immortal rind
• immortalship
• unimmortal

Related terms

• (never dying): indestructible, unabolishable, unextinguishable
• (being always remembered): unerasable

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *mer- (2 c, 0 e)

Translations

not susceptible to death

• Arabic: خَالِد (ar) m (ḵālid)
• Armenian: անմահ (hy) (anmah), անմեռ (hy) (anmeṙ), անմեռական (anmeṙakan)
• Asturian: inmortal
• Azerbaijani: ölməz (az)
• Belarusian: бессмяро́тны (be) (bjessmjarótny)
• Bulgarian: безсмъ́ртен (bg) (bezsmắrten)
• Catalan: immortal (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不朽的 (bùxiǔ de)

• Czech: nesmrtelný (cs) m
• Danish: udødelig (da)
• Dutch: onsterfelijk (nl), ondoodbaar
• Esperanto: senmorta
• Estonian: surematu
• Finnish: kuolematon (fi)
• French: immortel (fr)
• Galician: inmortal (gl), inmorrente
• Georgian: უკვდავი (uḳvdavi)
• German: unsterblich (de)
• Greek: αθάνατος (el) (athánatos)

  Ancient Greek: ἀθάνατος (athánatos), (Poetic) ἄμβροτος (ámbrotos)

• Hindi: अमर (hi) (amar), शाश्वत (hi) (śāśvat), अक्षय (hi) (akṣay)
• Hungarian: halhatatlan (hu)
• Icelandic: ódauðlegur (is)
• Indonesian: kekal (id), abadi (id)
• Irish: neamhbhásmhar, buan, síoraí, bithbheo
• Italian: immortale (it)
• Japanese: 不滅の (ja) (fumetsu no), 死なない (shinanai), 潰れない (tsuburenai)
• Kazakh: өлімсіз (ölımsız), өлмес (ölmes)
• Korean: 불사하다 (bulsahada)
• Kumyk: оьлюмсюз (ölümsüz)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نەمر (nemir)

  Northern Kurdish: nemir (ku), hersax (ku), herheyî (ku)

• Kyrgyz: өлбөс (ölbös), өлүмсүз (ölümsüz)
• Latin: immortalis m, aeternus (la) m
• Lithuanian: nemirtingas
• Macedonian: бесмртен (besmrten)
• Manx: neuvarvaanagh, neuvaasoil
• Māori: mutungakore
• Middle English: undedly
• Norwegian: udødelig (no)
• Occitan: immortal
• Old English: undēadlīċ
• Pali: amara
• Persian: نامیرا (fa) (nâmirâ), نوش (fa) (nuš) (poetic)
• Plautdietsch: onstoaflich
• Polish: nieśmiertelny (pl) m
• Portuguese: imortal (pt)
• Romanian: nemuritor (ro), imortal
• Russian: бессме́ртный (ru) m (bessmértnyj)
• Sanskrit: अमृत (sa) (amṛta)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бѐсмртан

  Latin: bèsmrtan (sh)

• Slovak: nesmrteľný
• Slovene: nesmrten (sl)
• Spanish: inmortal (es)
• Swedish: odödlig (sv)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Tocharian A: onkrac
• Tocharian B: oṅkrotte
• Turkish: ölümsüz (tr)
• Ukrainian: безсме́ртний (uk) (bezsmértnyj)
• Uzbek: oʻlmas (uz)
• Vietnamese: bất tử (vi), bất diệt (vi), sống mãi

never to be forgotten

• Azerbaijani: ölməz (az)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不朽的 (bùxiǔ de), 流芳百世的 (liúfāngbǎishì de)

• Finnish: kuolematon (fi)
• French: inoubliable (fr)
• Galician: inmortal (gl), inmorrente, inesquecible (gl)
• German: unvergesslich (de)
• Hindi: अमिट (hi) (amiṭ), अविनाशी (hi) (avināśī)
• Hungarian: halhatatlan (hu)
• Irish: buanseasmhach
• Italian: indimenticabile (it)
• Portuguese: inesquecível (pt) m or f, imortal (pt) m or f
• Russian: бессме́ртный (ru) m (bessmértnyj)
• Tibetan: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: unutulmaz, akıllardan silinmeyen
• Vietnamese: bất hủ (vi)

Noun

immortal (plural immortals)

1. One who is not susceptible to death.
   • 2018 May 28, Claire Messud, “Turning Circe Into a Good Witch”, in The New York Times‎^[1]:

     The brutal insouciance of her fellow immortals — whether her sharp-tongued mother, Perse; or chilly Hermes; or righteous Athena enraged — proves increasingly alien to this thoughtful and compassionate woman who learns to love unselfishly.

2. A preeminent or exemplary person or thing; a paragon.
   1. (chess) A game of chess of especially high quality and entertainment, regarded as one of the best in history.

      Anand's Immortal

3. A member of an elite regiment of the Persian army.
4. A member of the Académie française.
5. (Internet) An administrator of a multi-user dungeon.

   Synonyms: immort, wizard

   • 1999, Corey Crawford, “RECRUITING: [circle] Tazmania/Middle Sphere: Admin, Builders, Immortals”, in rec.games.mud.announce (Usenet):

     Tazmania/Middle Sphere is in need of builders, admin, and immortals. […] Immortals do not need experiance^[sic].

Related terms

• mortal
• mortality
• mortician

Translations

one that is not susceptible to death

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 神仙 (zh) (shénxiān)

• Esperanto: senmortulo
• Finnish: kuolematon (fi)
• French: immortel (fr)
• Greek: αθάνατος (el) m (athánatos)
• Hindi: अमर (hi) m (amar)
• Hungarian: halhatatlan (hu)
• Italian: immortale (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: نەمر (nemir)

• Latin: aeternus (la) m, immortalis m or f
• Persian: جاویدان (fa) (jâvidân)
• Portuguese: imortal (pt) m or f
• Romanian: nemuritor (ro) m, nemuritoare (ro) f
• Russian: бессме́ртный (ru) (bessmértnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: бесмртник m, besmrtnica (sh) f

  Latin: besmrtnik (sh) m, бесмртница f

• Spanish: inmortal (es) m or f
• Swahili: asiyekufa
• Telugu: అమరుడు (te) (amaruḍu)
• Turkish: ölümsüz (tr)
• Ukrainian: безсме́ртний (uk) m (bezsmértnyj)
• Vietnamese: bất tử (vi), thần tiên (vi)

Further reading

• Persian Immortals on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Académie française on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin immortālis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Northern, Central) [im.murˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic, Northwestern) [im.morˈtal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [im.moɾˈtal]

• Audio (Barcelona):

  (file)

Adjective

immortal m or f (masculine and feminine plural immortals)

1. immortal

   Antonym: mortal

Related terms

• immortalitat