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eternal. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
eternal, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
eternal in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
eternal you have here. The definition of the word
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English
Etymology
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
Adjective
eternal (comparative more eternal, superlative most eternal)
- Lasting forever; unending.
- Synonyms: agelong, endless, everlasting, permanent, sempiternal, unending; see also Thesaurus:eternal
- Antonyms: ephemeral, momentary, transient; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral
2008, BioWare, Mass Effect (Science Fiction), Redwood City: Electronic Arts, →ISBN, →OCLC, PC, scene: Virmire:Organic life is nothing but a genetic mutation, an accident. Your lives are measured in years and decades. You wither and die.
We are eternal. The pinnacle of evolution and existence. Before us, you are nothing. Your extinction is inevitable. We are the end of everything.
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: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.
- (philosophy) Existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly.
- Synonyms: timeless, atemporal; see also Thesaurus:timeless
- (hyperbolic) Constant; perpetual; ceaseless; ever-present.
1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World , London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC: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.
- (dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.
- Synonym: awful
some eternal villain
Usage notes
May be used postpositively, as in peace eternal, possibly as a result of Latin influence.[1]
Derived terms
Translations
lasting forever
- Albanian: amshuar (sq)
- Arabic: أَبَدِيّ (ʔabadiyy)
- Armenian: հավերժական (hy) (haveržakan), անմեռ (hy) (anmeṙ), անմեռական (anmeṙakan), հավիտենական (hy) (havitenakan)
- Azerbaijani: daim, ömürlük, əbədi (az)
- Bashkir: мәңге
- Belarusian: ве́чны (vjéčny)
- Bengali: অনন্ত (bn) (onnto), অমর (bn) (omor)
- Bulgarian: ве́чен (bg) (véčen)
- Catalan: etern (ca), eternal
- Chinese:
- Mandarin: 永遠/永远 (zh) (yǒngyuǎn), 永久 (zh) (yǒngjiǔ)
- Chukchi: таӈӄонпыӈӄэн (taṇqonpyṇqėn)
- Czech: věčný (cs)
- Dutch: eeuwig (nl), eindeloos (nl)
- Esperanto: eterna (eo)
- Finnish: ikuinen (fi), päättymätön (fi)
- French: éternel (fr)
- Galician: eterno (gl), eternal (gl)
- Georgian: მარადი (maradi), სამუდამო (samudamo), სამარადისო (samaradiso), მუდმივი (mudmivi), წარუვალი (c̣aruvali)
- German: ewig (de)
- Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐌴𐌹𐌽𐍃 (aiweins)
- Greek: αιώνιος (el) (aiónios)
- Ancient: αἰώνιος (aiṓnios)
- Hebrew: נִצְחִי m (nitzḥí)
- Hindi: सनातन (hi) m (sanātan), सदैव (hi) (sadaiv), सर्वदा (hi) (sarvadā)
- Hungarian: örök (hu), örökös (hu), örökkévaló (hu)
- Icelandic: eilífur (is)
- Ido: eterna (io)
- Indonesian: abadi (id), kekal (id), langgeng (id), tetap (id), permanen (id)
- Ingrian: jokaaikain, iänikäin
- Irish: síoraí
- Italian: eterno (it)
- Japanese: 永遠の (ja) (えいえんの, eien no), 永久の (ja) (えいきゅうの, eikyū no)
- Kazakh: мәңгі (mäñgı), бақи (baqi)
- Khmer: គ្មានទីបំផុត (kmien tii bɑmpʰot)
- Korean: 영원하다 (ko) (yeong'wonhada)
- Kurdish:
- Northern Kurdish: ebedî (ku), herherî (ku), hetahetayî (ku), bêdawî (ku)
- Latin: aeternus (la), sempiternus
- Macedonian: вечен (večen)
- Maori: mutungakore
- Middle English: eternal, eterne
- Mongolian: мөнх (mn) (mönx)
- Norman: êtèrnel (Jersey)
- Norwegian: evig (no), endeløs, evinnelig
- Occitan: etèrn (oc), eternal (oc)
- Old Church Slavonic:
- Cyrillic: вѣчьнъ (věčĭnŭ)
- Old English: ēċe
- Old Tupi: opaba'erame'yma
- Ottoman Turkish: صوڭسز (soñsız), ابدی (ebedî), دایم (daim), موبد (muʿebbed), پاینده (payende, payanda)
- Persian: جاوید (fa) (jâvid), ابدی (fa) (abadi)
- Plautdietsch: eewich
- Polish: wieczny (pl), wieczysty (pl), wiekuisty, bezczasowy (lit. timeless), pozaczasowy (lit. timeless)
- Portuguese: eterno (pt)
- Russian: ве́чный (ru) (véčnyj)
- Sanskrit: सनातन (sa) (sanātana), सदैव (sadaiva)
- Scottish Gaelic: maireannach, sìorraidh
- Serbo-Croatian:
- Cyrillic: ве̏чан, вје̏чан
- Roman: vȅčan (sh), vjȅčan (sh), vekotrajan, vekovečan (sh)
- Slovak: večný
- Slovene: večen (sl)
- Spanish: eterno (es), eternal (es)
- Swahili: -a milele
- Swedish: evig (sv)
- Tocharian B: ṣekaññe
- Turkish: sonsuz (tr), ebedî (tr), bengi (tr)
- Turkmen: ömürlik, baky (tk), ebedi
- Ukrainian: ві́чний (víčnyj)
- Uzbek: abadiy (uz), mangu (uz)
- Welsh: didranc
- Yiddish: אייביק (eybik)
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Noun
eternal (plural eternals)
- 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
Anagrams
Catalan
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin aeternālis. First attested in the 14th century.[1]
Pronunciation
Adjective
eternal m or f (masculine and feminine plural eternals)
- eternal
- Synonym: etern
References
Further reading
Galician
Etymology
From Latin aeternālis.
Adjective
eternal m or f (plural eternais)
- (formal) eternal
- Synonym: eterno
Further reading
Middle English
Etymology
Borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel, from Latin aeternālis; equivalent to eterne + -al.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ɛːtɛrˈnaːl/, /ɛːˈtɛrnal/, /ɛːtɛrˈnɛːl/
Adjective
eternal
- Eternal, permanent; having existed (and existing) forever.
- Endless, unending; lasting forever.
- (rare) Long-lasting; non-ephemeral.
Synonyms
Descendants
References
Occitan
Etymology
From Latin aeternālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
eternal m (feminine singular eternala, masculine plural eternals, feminine plural eternalas)
- eternal
- Synonym: etèrn
Portuguese
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin aeternālis.
Pronunciation
Adjective
eternal m or f (plural eternais, not comparable)
- eternal
- Synonym: eterno
Further reading
Spanish
Etymology
From Latin aeternālis.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /eteɾˈnal/
- Rhymes: -al
- Syllabification: e‧ter‧nal
Adjective
eternal m or f (masculine and feminine plural eternales)
- eternal
- Synonym: eterno
Further reading