eternal
Americanadjective
-
without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing (temporal ).
eternal life.
- Synonyms:
- permanent
- Antonyms:
- transitory
-
perpetual; ceaseless; endless.
eternal quarreling;
eternal chatter.
-
eternal principles.
- Synonyms:
- indestructible, imperishable, undying, deathless, immortal, timeless
- Antonyms:
- mutable
-
Metaphysics. existing outside all relations of time; not subject to change.
noun
-
something that is eternal.
-
the Eternal. God.
adjective
-
-
without beginning or end; lasting for ever
eternal life
-
( as noun )
the eternal
-
-
(often capital) denoting or relating to that which is without beginning and end, regarded as an attribute of God
-
unchanged by time, esp being true or valid for all time; immutable
eternal truths
-
seemingly unceasing; occurring again and again
eternal bickering
Related Words
Eternal, endless, everlasting, perpetual imply lasting or going on without ceasing. That which is eternal is, by its nature, without beginning or end: God, the eternal Father. That which is endless never stops but goes on continuously as if in a circle: an endless succession of years. That which is everlasting will endure through all future time: a promise of everlasting life. Perpeptual implies continuous renewal as far into the future as one can foresee: perpetual strife between nations.
Other Word Forms
- eternality noun
- eternally adverb
- eternalness noun
- noneternal adjective
- noneternalness noun
- preeternal adjective
- quasi-eternal adjective
Etymology
Origin of eternal
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English eternale, eterneel, from Old French eternal, eternel, from Late Latin aeternālis, equivalent to aetern(us) ( eterne ) + -ālis -al 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He explains that he feels "very strongly" about the issue and says we need to put in "the hard work of divesting our attention and reconnecting with eternal things like nature".
From BBC
Showered with honors and tributes, he had begun to seem eternal, a cultural constant.
From Los Angeles Times
And we felt the shades of eternal night falling fast because at this point, remember, we supposed Miss Myrt Arbuckle was alive and kicking and drawing up her lessons for another nightmare year.
From Literature
Sean Penn, Hollywood's eternal rebel, on Sunday won a third Oscar for his comic yet terrifying portrayal of an absurdly uptight soldier ashamed of his past in "One Battle After Another."
From Barron's
Absorbing this well-chosen album is a treat, and a chance to appreciate the delicate mortality that thrives in a place simultaneously enormous, eternal and ephemeral.
From Los Angeles Times
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
