eternal

Sayi-TUR-nuhl/ɪˈtɝ.nəl/UK/ɪˈtɜː.nəl/

Noun pluraleternals

5 meanings of eternal

1
adjective
Lasting forever and never coming to an end.
Like a circle that has no beginning and no end.
They promised each other eternal love on their wedding day.
Many religions teach that the soul is eternal and lives on after death.
Similareverlasting, endless, permanent, unending
Oppositetransient, momentary, ephemeral
Note
2
adjective
Happening all the time and never stopping.
Like a song stuck on repeat that never stops playing.
Their eternal arguing about money made the whole trip miserable.
The dog's eternal barking kept the neighbors awake all night.
Similarconstant, endless, incessant, perpetual, ceaseless
Oppositeoccasional, intermittent
Note
3
adjective
Being outside of time itself, not just lasting a very long time.
Like a whole picture you can see at once, not a song that plays note by note over time.
Some thinkers say God is eternal, living completely outside of time.
The students debated whether numbers are eternal things that exist beyond time.
Similartimeless, atemporal
Oppositetemporal
Note
4
nouncountable
A being that lives forever and never dies.
Like a character in a story who can never be killed.
In the legend, the eternals watched over humans for thousands of years.
She wrote about an eternal who could never grow old or die.
Similarimmortal
Oppositemortal

Less common meaning

5
adjectivedated
Used to make a complaint stronger, meaning very great or very bad.
Like saying 'that endless noise' when you really just mean it is very annoying.
That eternal racket from upstairs nearly drove him out of his mind.
She called him an eternal fool for selling the family farm.
Similarinfernal, confounded, everlasting
Note

Practice

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Origin

It came through Old French from Latin aeternus, meaning 'eternal', which came from aevum, meaning 'age'.