éternel French · revision 17575

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1175, Benoît de Sainte-Maure|origins=la aevum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /e.tɛʁ.nɛl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''éternel''' (feminine éternelle, masculine plural éternels, feminine plural éternelles)^(Wiktionary)

+ First written ''eternal'' (about 1175); ''éternel'' from the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-lat|aeternālis|t=outside time, without beginning or end]], a Christian derivative of classical [[m|la|aeternus]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) That adjective comes from the archaic [[m|la|aeviternus|t=lasting a lifetime]], formed on [[m|la|aevum|t=time, duration]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Cognate with [[oc|eternal]], [[es|eternal]] and [[it|eternale]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Benoît de Sainte-Maure writes ''gloire eternal'' in the ''Chronique des ducs de Normandie'' (about 1175), and elsewhere contrasts mortal man with ''veirs Deus eternaus'', true eternal God.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word kept its Latin sense in religion and philosophy, for what has neither beginning nor end, and by extension for what belongs to God.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) ''Le Père éternel'' is recorded about 1460 and ''l'Éternel'' for God about 1530; the familiar ''un grand voyageur devant l'Éternel'' comes from the biblical Nimrod, “a mighty hunter before the Lord”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) About 1550 it was weakened to “endless, lasting a very long time”: Du Bellay, before 1559, writes of ''ces monts couverts d'une neige eternelle''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Racine in 1669 uses it, by exaggeration, of a person who never seems to stop;^(GLLF 1989) Furetière in 1690 has it for what keeps recurring, and Lesage in 1707, with a possessive, for someone or something always associated with a person.^(GLLF 1989) ''L'éternel féminin'' and ''un éternel mécontent'' are among the modern uses.^(Petit Robert 2007) ''La Ville éternelle'' is Rome.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1175 – ''Eternal'' in Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – The form ''éternel''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1460 – ''Père Éternel''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1530 – ''L'Éternel'', God.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1550 – The weakened sense “endless”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Outside time, without beginning or end: ''Dieu est éternel'', ''le Père éternel''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Having a beginning but no end: ''le bonheur éternel du paradis''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Lasting a very long time; [[m|en|everlasting]], [[m|en|unchanging]]: ''neiges éternelles'', ''la Ville éternelle''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(before the noun)'' Constantly recurring, [[m|en|perpetual]]: ''un éternel mécontent'', ''c'est l'éternel problème''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''L'Éternel'': God, ''un grand chasseur devant l'Éternel'', a great hunter, said with emphasis.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''L'éternel'': what has eternal value.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[éternellement]]

+ * [[éterniser]]

+ * [[éternité]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[âge]]

+ * [[sempiternel]]

+ * [[la|aeternus]]

+ * [[en|eternal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}