Origin: 1400–50; late Middle English < Late Latin sempiternālis, equivalent to Latin sempitern(us) everlasting semp(er) always + -i--i- + -ternus suffix of temporal adjectives; see eterne) + -ālis-al1
a children's mummer's parade, as on the Fourth of July, with prizes for the best costumes.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
c.1400, from O.Fr. sempiternel (13c.) or L.L. sempiternalis, from L. sempiternus, from L. semper "always" (see semper-) + æternus "eternal" (see eternal).