athanasia

American  

[ath-uh-ney-zhuh] / ˌæθ əˈneɪ ʒə /

Also athanasy

noun

1. deathlessness; immortality.

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Usage

What is athanasia? Athanasia is deathlessness or immortality, as in The trouble with athanasia is that when you live forever, life can get pretty boring. An uncommon term, athanasia refers to the inability to die or the possession of eternal life. Many ancient mythologies contain depictions of athanasia, especially Greek, which the term comes from. In some stories, especially those containing vampires, athanasia is an eternal youth. The vampire will never grow old or die of old age but can die in other ways. Athanasia is used in titles of games and fiction that deal with immortality. Athanasia is also used as a personal name, especially for Greek women, and is the name of a genus of flowering plants native to Africa. The plants have yellow flowers and are related to daisies. Sometimes athanasia is used figuratively to mean an impossibly long time. Example: Rachel kept expecting the lead character to die during the battle scenes, but apparently he has athanasia and walks away without a scratch.

Etymology

Origin of athanasia

1820–30; < Greek athanasía, equivalent to athánat ( os ) deathless ( a- a- ⁶ + thánatos death) + -ia -ia, with ti > si

Example Sentences

There is also a special group named from medicinal properties, such as feverfew, a doublet of febrifuge, and tansy, Fr. tanaisie, from Greco-Lat. athanasia, immortality.

From The Romance of Words (4th ed.) by Weekley, Ernest

Sir Thomas More.—My verses, friend, had none of the athanasia in their composition. 

From Sir Thomas More, or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society by Morley, Henry