Etymologically
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aeternus

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [ae̯ˈtɛr.nʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [eˈtɛr.nus][1]

Forms

aeternus (feminine aeterna, neuter aeternum, adverb aeternō); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is a contraction of aeviternus, from aevum “age, lifetime” with the suffix ⟨-ternus⟩, as in sempiternus.[2][1][3][4] ⟨Aevum⟩ goes back to Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“lifetime, vital force”).[1][5] Isidore of Seville explained that God is eternal because he is without time.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is the Twelve Tables, which he dates about 450 BC.[5]

Semantic evolution

It meant without beginning or end, eternal, everlasting, as in Cicero, of states perpetual, as the ever-burning fire of Vesta, and of abstract things permanent.[2][7] It meant lasting for all future time, with urbs aeterna “the Eternal City”, Rome, of death everlasting, and in aeternum “for ever”, as in Lucretius.[2][7] It meant immortal, of time infinite, and in a weaker sense lifelong, durable, as in Plautus and Virgil.[2] Varro and Apuleius have the older form aeviternus.[2]

In Christian and Medieval Latin it meant eternal, and as a noun eternity.[8][9] Italian and Spanish eterno are borrowings.[1] English eternal came in the late 14th century through Old French or Late Latin aeternālis.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 450 BC – The Twelve Tables use it.[5]
  • c. 250–184 BC – Plautus uses it of something lifelong.[2][5]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of the eternal and of Rome.[2][5]
  • late 14th century – English eternal is recorded.[4]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Eternal, everlasting.[2]
  2. Perpetual, unceasing.[2]
  3. Lasting for ever, urbs aeterna, Rome, in aeternum, for ever.[2]
  4. Immortal.[2]
  5. Lifelong; durable.[2]

Word family

  • aeternālis
  • aeternitās
  • aeternō
  • coaeternus
  • aequiternus

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  6. ^ Isidore of Seville, Etymologiarum sive Originum libri XX, ed. W. M. Lindsay (Oxford, 1911).
  7. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  9. ^ Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press