eternal English · revision 7893

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1380|origins=la aeternus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɪˈtɜː.nl̩/ ''(UK)''; /ɪˈtɝ.nl̩/, /iˈtɝ.nl̩/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fro|eternal]], eternel,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) or directly Late Latin [[m|la-lat|aeternalis|alt=aeternālis]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Latin [[m|la|aeternus|t=lasting, everlasting]], a contraction of aeviternus, of great age,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from aevum, age (see [[age]]),^(Barnhart 1988)^(NODE 1998) from PIE [[ine-pro|*h₂eyu-|alt=*aiw-|t=vital force, life; eternity]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lasting for ever: about 1380, in Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==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.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) A parallel Middle English eterne came directly from Latin aeternus through Old French.^(Etymonline) The Eternal, as a name of God, is attested from the 1580s.^(Etymonline)^(AHD) Pertaining to eternal things, having eternal consequences, is from 1605.^(OED 1989) Seemingly endless, occurring again and again, is a weakened sense.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023) In dialect from Ireland to Cornwall it was used to express extreme dislike.^(Wright 1898)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1380 – everlasting.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1385 – eternally.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1580s – the Eternal, God.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1605 – having eternal consequences.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Without beginning or end; lasting for ever.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Unchanged by time; always true: ''eternal truths''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Seemingly endless; constantly repeated: ''eternal bickering''.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Of or relating to life with [[God]], especially after death.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''(the Eternal)'' God.^(AHD)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[eternality]]

+ * [[eternally]]

+ * [[eternalness]]

+ * [[eternalize]]

+ * [[noneternal]]

+ * [[coeternal]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[eternity]]

+ * [[age]]

+ * [[aeon]]

+ * [[sempiternal]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}