everlasting
Pronunciation
Etymology
It is formed from English ever + lasting.[2][3][4][5] Lasting is the present participle of last, lasten.[4][3] Weekley regarded it as a Middle English coinage to render eternal,[6] and the OED notes that its sense of past as well as future eternity follows Latin aeternus as used in post-classical texts.[2] Early forms include ever-lestind.[7] A verb everlast, to endure forever, is recorded from the late 14th century.[3]
Earliest recorded meaning
Lasting forever, endless: about 1225, in the life of Saint Margaret, where Margaret goes to bliss "buten wa, euer-lestinde".[7][2]
Semantic evolution
By 1340, in the Ayenbite, it could mean without beginning as well as end: "He is eurelestinde, wyþoute beginnynge and wyþ-oute ende".[7][2] It was soon used loosely, for something lasting a very long time (about 1384) or constant and unceasing (before 1398).[2] From 1761, in Colman's The Jealous Wife, it also carried a note of weariness: "they are both everlasting gossips".[2][8] In 19th-century American speech it became an intensifier, "very, exceedingly", as an adjective from 1834 and as an adverb from 1836.[2][8][3] As a noun, the Everlasting meant God from before 1382.[2][4] Plants were called everlasting first in the sense "perennial" (1578), then for flowers that keep their shape and colour when dried (1761).[2] From 1633 such a plant was itself called an everlasting.[2] It was also applied to hard-wearing cloth and footwear (1607), and in the 18th century to a strong woven fabric.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as lasting without end, perpetual, immortal, eternal.[9]
Timeline
- c. 1225 – lasting forever, endless.[2][7]
- 1340 – without beginning or end.[2][7]
- before 1382 – noun, the Everlasting, God.[2]
- c. 1384 – lasting a very long time.[2]
- before 1398 – constant, unceasing.[2]
- 1578 – of a plant, perennial.[2]
- 1633 – noun, an everlasting flower.[2]
- 1761 – tiresomely endless.[2][8]
- 1834 – American intensifier.[2]
Meanings
Adjective
- Lasting forever; eternal: everlasting life.[4][10][2]
- Continuing for a very long time or indefinitely; perpetual: the everlasting ice of the high peaks.[4][10][2]
- Going on so long or so often as to be tiresome; incessant: the neighbours' everlasting hammering.[10][2]
- Of a plant, having flowers that keep their shape and colour when dried.[2][4]
Noun
- the Everlasting: God.[4][2]
- Eternity, chiefly in from everlasting.[4][10]
- An everlasting flower, also called an immortelle.[4][10][2]
Word family
- everlastingly
- everlastingness
Related words
- ever
- lasting
- last
References
- ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
- ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
- ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
- ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
- ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins