unending

Etymology

It is formed from English un- + ending,^[2][3][4] the second part being the present participle of end used as an adjective.^[5][4][2] The verb goes back to Old English endian (“to end, finish”).^[5] Early Middle English had unendelich (“infinitely”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Endless: 1661, in O. Felltham's Resolves, in the revised edition of his comment on Ecclesiastes.^[2][4] Etymonline dates it to the 1660s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The OED gives the word the single sense "endless", from 1661 on;^[2] the adverb unendingly followed in 1674.^[6] Merriam-Webster Unabridged now separates several shades: lasting indefinitely into the future, going on from time immemorial, undying, incessant, and stretching out with no visible end,^[4] and Collins adds "seeming to have no end".^[7]

Timeline

• 1661 – endless.^[2][4]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Having no end; going on for ever: unending love.^[4][7][2]
2. Going on without pause, or seeming never to stop; incessant, interminable: an unending stream of complaints.^[4][7]
3. Stretching out with no visible end: the unending prairie.^[4]

Word family

• unendingly

Related words

• end
• ending

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins