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the eternal

 - 2 dictionary results

e⋅ter⋅nal

[i-tur-nl]
–adjective
1. without beginning or end; lasting forever; always existing (opposed to temporal ): eternal life.
2. perpetual; ceaseless; endless: eternal quarreling; eternal chatter.
3. enduring; immutable: eternal principles.
4. Metaphysics. existing outside all relations of time; not subject to change.
–noun
5. something that is eternal.
6. the Eternal, God.

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < LL aeternālis, equiv. to aetern(us) (see eterne ) + -ālis -al 1


e⋅ter⋅nal⋅i⋅ty [ee-tur-nal-i-tee] , e⋅ter⋅nal⋅ness, noun
e⋅ter⋅nal⋅ly, adverb


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


1. transitory. 3. mutable.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

eternal 
c.1366 (in variant form eterne), from O.Fr. eternal, from L.L. æternalis, from L. æternus contraction of æviternus "of great age," from ævum "age." Eternity first attested c.1374. In the Mercian hymns, L. æternum is glossed by O.E. ecnisse.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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