eternal

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɪˈtɜː.nl̩/ (UK); /ɪˈtɝ.nl̩/, /iˈtɝ.nl̩/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel,^[2][3][4] or directly Late Latin aeternālis,^[3][2] from Latin aeternus (“lasting, everlasting”), a contraction of aeviternus, of great age,^[3][2][4] from aevum, age (see age),^[2][5] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *aiw- (“vital force, life; eternity”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lasting for ever: about 1380, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Since Middle English it has been used both of things without beginning or end and of things that have a beginning but no end.^[3][6] A parallel Middle English eterne came directly from Latin aeternus through Old French.^[3] The Eternal, as a name of God, is attested from the 1580s.^[3][7] Pertaining to eternal things, having eternal consequences, is from 1605.^[6] Seemingly endless, occurring again and again, is a weakened sense.^[7][8] In dialect from Ireland to Cornwall it was used to express extreme dislike.^[9]

Timeline

• c. 1380 – everlasting.^[2]
• c. 1385 – eternally.^[2]
• 1580s – the Eternal, God.^[3]
• 1605 – having eternal consequences.^[6]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Without beginning or end; lasting for ever.
2. Unchanged by time; always true: eternal truths.
3. Seemingly endless; constantly repeated: eternal bickering.
4. Of or relating to life with God, especially after death.

Noun

1. (the Eternal) God.

Word family

• eternality
• eternally
• eternalness
• eternalize
• noneternal
• coeternal

Related words

• eternity
• age
• aeon
• sempiternal

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
8. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
9. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)