# everlasting
## English
### Alternative forms

* ever-lasting

### Etymology

From Middle English, equivalent to ever +‎ lasting.

### Pronunciation

* (General American) IPA: /ˌɛvɚˈlæstɪŋ/
* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/
* Audio (US):(file)
* Rhymes: -æstɪŋ, -ɑːstɪŋ
* Hyphenation: ever‧last‧ing

### Adjective

everlasting (comparative more everlasting, superlative most everlasting)
* Lasting or enduring forever; existing or continuing without end
    Synonyms: immortal, eternal
** 1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i]:Whether we shall meet again I know not; Therefore our everlasting farewell take; Forever, and forever farewell, Cassius.
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 21:33:The Everlasting God.
* Continuing indefinitely, or during a long period; perpetual; sometimes used, colloquially, as a strong intensive.
    this everlasting nonsense
** 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 17:8:I will give to thee, and to thy seed after thee […] the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession.
** 1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd, →OCLC:And heard thy everlasting yawn confess The pains and penalties of idleness.
* (philosophy) Existing with infinite temporal duration (as opposed to existence outside of time).

#### Synonyms

* continual
* endless
* eternal
* immortal
* incessant
* infinite
* interminable
* never-ending
* unceasing
* unintermitted
* uninterrupted
* unlimited
* (existing with infinite temporal duration) sempiternal

#### Antonyms

* (antonym(s) of “of a short life”): ephemeral
* (antonym(s) of “existing or continuing without end”): finite, limited, mortal

#### Translations
### Adverb

everlasting (comparative more everlasting, superlative most everlasting)
* (colloquial) Extremely.
** 1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y., London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC:The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on them.

### Noun

everlasting (plural everlastings)
* An everlasting flower.
** 1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC:Reverently I replaced the grave-cloths, and, with a sigh that flowers so fair should, in the purpose of the Everlasting, have only bloomed to be gathered to the grave, I turned to the body on the opposite shelf, and gently unveiled it.
** 1942, Emily Carr, “The Orange Lily”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC:With a backward look Small said, “What a lovely lily!” “Well enough but strong-smelling, gaudy. Come see the everlastings.”
** 1974, GB Edwards, The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, New York, published 2007, page 313:‘It is true perhaps it is too late now for you to look like a rose; but you can always look like an everlasting.’
* (historical) A durable cloth fabric for shoes, etc.
** 1988, Eric Kerridge, Textile Manufactures in Early Modern England, page 64:Everlastings of one kind or another were used to make gaiters, shoe tops and liveries for sergeants and catchpoles.
* (now rare, with 'the') God.
** c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], signature C, recto:O that this too too sallied fleſh would melt, / Thaw and reſolue it ſelfe into a dewe, / Or that the euerlaſting had not fixt / His cannon gainſt ſeale ſlaughter, ô God, God,

#### Translations
### Derived terms

* alpine everlasting
* California everlasting (Pseudognaphalium californicum)
* cascade everlasting
* Cascade everlasting (Ozothamnus secundiflorus)
* clammy everlasting (Gnaphalium macounii)
* everlasting daisy (Asteraceae spp.)
* everlasting flower (Asteraceae spp.)
* everlasting life
* everlastingly
* everlastingness
* everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius)
* everlasting pool
* everlasting staircase
* everlasting syllabub
* everlasting thorn (Pyracantha coccinea)
* golden everlasting (Xerochrysum bracteatum)
* large-flowered everlasting
* life everlasting
* mountain everlasting (Antennaria dioica)
* pearly everlasting (Anaphalis spp.)
* Pennsylvania everlasting (Gamochaeta pensylvanica)
* pink and white everlasting (Rhodanthe chlorocephala)
* purple everlasting (Gamochaeta purpurea)
* spring everlasting (Asteraceae spp.)
* sticky everlasting
* Swan River everlasting (Rhodanthe manglesii, syn. Helipterum manglesii)
* winged everlasting (Ammobium alatum)

### References

* “everlasting”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.