immemorial

[im-uh-mawr-ee-uhl, -mohr-]

adjective

1. extending back beyond memory, record, or knowledge.

   from time immemorial.

   Synonyms: olden, ageless, ancient, timeless

immemorial

/ ˌɪmɪˈmɔːrɪəl /

adjective

1. originating in the distant past; ancient (postpositive in the phrase time immemorial )

Other Word Forms

• immemorially adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of immemorial¹

From the Medieval Latin word immemoriālis, dating back to 1595–1605. See im- ², memorial

Word History and Origins

Origin of immemorial¹

C17: from Medieval Latin immemoriālis, from Latin _im- (not) + memoria _memory

Idioms and Phrases

see time immemorial.

Example Sentences

But there’s something just so effortless about her Majorca-primed house singles like “Maria,” which feel ready to slip into magic hour rooftop DJ sets for time immemorial.

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There is a robust consensus among scholars that politics in Iran begins with the idea of Iran as a people with a continuous and unbroken history, a nation that “looms out of an immemorial past.”

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One would think the viruses and bacteria that have tormented humanity since time immemorial would never find a friend in the species — human beings — they so routinely sicken and kill.

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But the film, which hit theaters this Friday, is an attempt to upend many of the narrative tropes that have defined stories about disfigured and disabled people since time immemorial.

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“We follow the Santa Ana river, so this goes back to time immemorial that we’ve been aware of this sacred ceremonial space.”

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