eternal

[ ih-tur-nl ]

See synonyms for: eternal eternality eternally eternalness on Thesaurus.com

adjective

without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing (opposed to temporal): eternal life.
perpetual; ceaseless; endless: eternal quarreling;eternal chatter.

enduring; immutable: eternal principles.
Metaphysics. existing outside all relations of time; not subject to change.

noun

something that is eternal.
the Eternal. God.

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) (see eterne) + -ālis -al¹

synonym study For eternal

1. 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 words for eternal

1	permanent, unending
3	timeless, immortal, deathless, undying, imperishable, indestructible

See synonyms for eternal on Thesaurus.com

Opposites for eternal

1	transitory
3	mutable

See antonyms for eternal on Thesaurus.com

Other words from eternal

e·ter·nal·i·ty [ee-tur-nal-i-tee], /ˌi tɜrˈnæl ɪ ti/, e·ter·nal·ness, noun
e·ter·nal·ly, adverb
non·e·ter·nal, adjective
non·e·ter·nal·ness, noun
pre·e·ter·nal, adjective
qua·si-e·ter·nal, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use eternal in a sentence

On one side is labor, on the other management, locked in an eternal struggle for power and resources.
The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election | Molly Ball | February 4, 2021 | Time
The Sparks Brothers begins not at the beginning, but in the eternal middle of the Sparks story, which is today.
The Sparks Brothers, a Sundance Delight, Tells the Grand Story of This Enduringly Enigmatic Art-Pop Duo | Stephanie Zacharek | February 3, 2021 | Time
VOSD contributor Randy Dotinga explains in his latest story on our city’s eternal quest to be more iconic than we already are.
Morning Report: Growing the County’s Carbon-Cutting Efforts | Voice of San Diego | February 3, 2021 | Voice of San Diego
Yes, but it’s also powered by enormous data centers, transmission infrastructure and, of course, the wasteful eternal cycle of replacing our devices — though that last one doesn’t figure into the paper’s estimates.
Remote workers are greener, but their tech still has a real carbon cost | Devin Coldewey | January 20, 2021 | TechCrunch
The modern solar system spins serenely, the planets locked in seemingly eternal circles around the sun.
Neptune’s bumpy childhood could reveal our solar system’s missing planets | Charlie Wood | January 8, 2021 | Popular-Science

Lavoisier took the third step by showing that the matter which enters into the constitution of the universe is an eternality.
Communism and Christianism | William Montgomery Brown
Mayer took the fourth step by showing that the force which enters into the constitution of the universe is an eternality.
Communism and Christianism | William Montgomery Brown
It destroys on the one hand the idea of the eternality of economic laws and limits them to particular epochs.
Socialism | John Spargo
Which shows that together with the non-eternality of the thing denoted there goes the non-eternality of the denoting word.
The Vedanta-Sutras with the Commentary by Sankaracarya | Translator: George Thibaut

British Dictionary definitions for eternal

eternal

/ (ɪˈtɜːnəl) /

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

Origin of eternal

C14: from Late Latin aeternālis, from Latin aeternus; related to Latin aevum age

Derived forms of eternal

eternality or eternalness, noun
eternally, adverb

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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