eternity

[ih-tur-ni-tee]

noun

plural

eternities 

1. infinite time; duration without beginning or end.

2. eternal existence, especially as contrasted with mortal life.

   the eternity of God.

3. Theology.,  the timeless state into which the soul passes at a person's death.

4. an endless or seemingly endless period of time.

   We had to wait an eternity for the check to arrive.

5. eternities, the truths or realities of life and thought that are regarded as timeless or eternal.

eternity

/ ɪˈtɜːnɪtɪ /

noun

1. endless or infinite time

2. the quality, state, or condition of being eternal

3. (usually plural) any of the aspects of life and thought that are considered to be timeless, esp timeless and true

4. theol the condition of timeless existence, believed by some to characterize the afterlife

5. a seemingly endless period of time

   an eternity of waiting

Other Word Forms

• noneternity noun
• preeternity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of eternity¹

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English eternite, from Latin aeternitās; equivalent to eterne + -ity

Example Sentences

Hugo had to settle for spending eternity in Paris’s Pantheon.

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It took them 95 days to drill a first well in 2022, an eternity compared with the roughly three weeks it can take to bore a hole in the Haynesville next door.

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Those missed opportunities haunted USC the rest of the game — and with no game scheduled between them from here, the Trojans will have an eternity now to ruminate on how it all went wrong.

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“Let’s see what happens. For me, you know what Nov. 1 is? An eternity.”

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There hasn’t been a parade through lower Manhattan in their honor since 2009, an eternity for an organization that has famously established a standard where any outcome other than a title is considered a failure.

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