eternal
pronunciation
How to pronounce eternal in British English:
UK [ɪˈtɜːnl]
How to pronounce eternal in American English:
US [ɪˈtɜːrnl]
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- Adjective:
- continuing forever or indefinitely
- lasting for an indefinitely long period of time
- tiresomely long; seemingly without end
Word Origin
- eternal
- eternal: [14] Something that is eternal lasts literally for ‘aeons’. The word comes via Old French eternal from aeternālis, a late Latin development of the Latin adjective aeternus ‘eternal’. This in turn was a derivative of aevum ‘age’ (which crops up in English medieval, primeval, etc), a relative of Greek aión ‘age’ (from which English gets aeon) and archaic English aye ‘ever’.=> aeon, aye, ever
- eternal (adj.)
- late 14c., from Old French eternel "eternal," or directly from Late Latin aeternalis, from Latin aeternus "of an age, lasting, enduring, permanent, everlasting, endless," contraction of aeviternus "of great age," from aevum "age" (see eon). Used since Middle English both of things or conditions without beginning or end and things with a beginning only but no end. A parallel form, Middle English eterne, is from Old French eterne (cognate with Spanish eterno), directly from Latin aeternus. Related: Eternally. The Eternal (n.) for "God" is attested from 1580s.
Example
- 1. What of the eternal give-and-take between security and privacy ?
- 2. Then I realized it is because it symbolizes god 's second purpose for your life : participating in the fellowship of god 's eternal family .
- 3. The eternal god is your refuge , and underneath are the everlasting arms .
- 4. The eternal question is whether this is just about sexism .
- 5. You tend to view any single negative thing as an eternal pattern of negativity .