everlasting
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/
ipa: /-ˈlæst-/
ipa: /ˌɛvəɹˈlæstɪŋ/
text: -
rhymes: -ɑːstɪŋ
rhymes: -æstɪŋ
Forms: form: more everlasting
form: most everlasting
form: ever-lasting
Etymology: From Middle English ever-lasting (“(adjective) eternal, perpetual; constant; (adverb) eternally; (noun) eternity”), from ever (“at all times, always, constantly; eternally, perpetually; regularly; etc.”) + lasting (“continuing, lasting; eternal; etc.”).
* Ever is derived from Old English ǣfre (“ever”), possibly from ā (“always, ever”) + in fēore (“in life”). Ā is from Proto-West Germanic *aiw (“eternity; long time”), from Proto-Germanic *aiwaz (“long time; eternity”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂ey- (“life, vital force; long time; eternity”); and fēore is the dative singular of feorh (“life”), from Proto-West Germanic *ferh (“life; kind of tree”), from Proto-Germanic *ferhwą (“body; life; tree”), probably ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *perkʷ- (“oak tree”) (as the oak represented life and vitality in Germanic mythology).
* Lasting is derived from lasten (“to continue, last; etc.”) + -ing (suffix forming present participle forms of verbs, often used as adjectives)); and lasten from Old English lǣstan (“to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”), from Proto-West Germanic *laistijan (“to follow, pursue; to carry out, perform”), from Proto-Germanic *laistijaną (“to follow, pursue”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leys- (“to trace, track”).
By surface analysis, ever (adverb) + lasting (adjective).
Senses: examples: text: And vvhether vve ſhall meete againe, I knovv not: / Therefore our euerlaſting farevvell take: / For euer, and for euer, farevvell, Caſſius, / If vve do meete againe, vvhy vve ſhall ſmile; / If not, vvhy then this parting vvas vvell made.
ref: 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], page 128, column 1:
text: And I will giue vnto thee, and to thy ſeed after thee, the land wherein thou art a ſtranger, all the land of Canaan, for an euerlaſting poſſeſſion, and I will be their God.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 17:8, signature B2, recto, column 2:
text: VVhy, in Heaven I ſhall have an everlaſting Holyday of Pleaſure.
ref: 1649, Richard Baxter, “An Example of this Heavenly Contemplation, for the Help of the Unskilful”, in The Saints Everlasting Rest: Or, A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory. […], London: […] Rob[ert] White, for Thomas Underhil and Francis Tyton, […], →OCLC, part IV (Containing a Directory for the Getting and Keeping of the Heart in Heaven: […]), section 2, page 807:
text: And vvhat a trifle is a moments Breath, / Laid in the Scale vvith everlaſting Death?
ref: 1668, John Denham, “Of Prudence”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 155:
text: I muſt venture: To go back is nothing but death, to go forvvard is fear of death, and life everlaſting beyond it. I vvill yet go forvvard.
ref: 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 45:
text: Philoſophers, vvho darken and put out / Eternal truth by everlaſting doubt, […]
ref: 1782, William Cowper, “The Progress of Error”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 65:
text: [A]rt thou hidden by those far thicker curtains of the Everlasting night, or rather of the Everlasting Day, though which my mortal eye and outstretched arms need not strive to reach?
ref: 1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Genesis”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 58:
text: I would all the gold of earth were sunk into the everlasting pit! It is this mean, and miserable, and loathsome leprosy of avarice, that gnaws away from our whole race the heart, the soul, nay, the very form, of man!
ref: 1838, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “Ambition Distorted into Vice by Law”, in “Leila; or, The Siege of Granada”, in Leila; or, The Siege of Granada: And Calderon, the Courtier. […], London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans; Paris: Delloy and Co., →OCLC, book I, page 37:
text: His soul has gone to everlasting fire!
ref: 1978, John Updike, chapter II, in The Coup, New York, N.Y.: Alfred A[braham] Knopf, →ISBN, page 76:
glosses: Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
examples: text: And Abraham planted trees at Berſeba, and called vpon the name of the LORDE yͤ euerlaſting God, and was a ſtraunger in yͤ londe of the Philiſtynes a longe ſeaſon.
ref: 1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Genesis xxj:[33–34], folio ix, recto, column 2:
text: For vnto vs a child [Jesus] is borne, vnto vs a Sonne is giuen, and the gouernment ſhalbe vpon his ſhoulder: and his name ſhalbe called, Wonderfull, Counſeller, The mightie God, The euerlaſting Father, The Prince of peace.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 9:6, signature [Mmm4], verso, column 2:
text: All of them, the good supernatural beings, they call also 'altgiva,' [apparently an early rendering of "altjira"] as well as the firmament, with the sun, moon, and stars; also the earth, and any things specially remarkable. The word 'altgiva' signifies that these had an everlasting existence.
ref: 1890, F[riedrich] E[douard] H[einrich] W[ulf] Krichauff, “The Customs, Religious Ceremonies, etc. of the ‘Aldolinga’ and ‘Mbenderinga’ Tribe of Aborigines in Krichauff Ranges, South Australia”, in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, volume 2, Adelaide, S.A.: H. F. Leader, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35; quoted in Sam D. Gill, “Altjira”, in Storytracking: Texts, Stories, and Histories in Central Australia, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1998, →ISBN, page 87:
glosses: Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
Chiefly of a deity or other supernatural being: having always existed and will continue to exist forever; eternal.
topics: human-sciences
philosophy
sciences
glosses: Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
Synonym of sempiternal (“having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether”).
synonyms: word: sempiternal
extra: having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether
examples: text: this everlasting nonsense
text: And it [this History] is compiled rather for an Everlasting Possession, then to be rehearſed for a Prize.
ref: 1629, Thucydides, “The First Booke”, in Thomas Hobbes, transl., Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre […], London: […] Hen[ry] Seile, […], →OCLC, page 13:
text: [T]hink hovv [Francis] Bacon ſhin'd, / The vviſeſt, brighteſt, meaneſt of Mankind: / Or raviſh'd vvith the vvhiſtling of a Name, / See [Oliver] Cromvvell, damn'd to everlaſting Fame!
ref: 1734, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 75, lines 277–280:
text: [S]he mark'd thee there, / Stretch'd on the rack of a too-eaſy Chair; / And heard thy everlaſting yavvn confeſs / The Pains and penalties of Idleneſs.
ref: 1742, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Fourth”, in The New Dunciad: As is^([sic]) It was Found in the Year 1741. […], Dublin: […] George Faulkner, →OCLC, pages 31–32, lines 331–334:
text: [T]he rivulet that swells it [a river], descends from the everlasting mountains, or is formed by the rains of Heaven.
ref: 1832, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter X, in Eugene Aram. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 162:
text: I am Juan de la Nuza, the father of the young officer whose life you saved in the assault of the Moriscos, in Valentia, and I owe you an everlasting gratitude.
ref: 1838, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Counterplot”, in “Calderon, the Courtier: A Tale”, in Leila; or, The Siege of Granada: And Calderon, the Courtier. […], London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans; Paris: Delloy and Co., →OCLC, book, page 377:
text: [T]he wind rushing through these mighty gates of everlasting rock— […]
ref: 1839 July, Thomas De Quincey, “William Wordsworth and Robert Southey”, in Autobiographic Sketches: With Recollections of the Lakes (De Quincey’s Works; II), London: James Hogg & Sons, →OCLC, page 325:
text: [W]e must all die—'tis an inevitable chance—the first Statute in Magna Charta—it is an everlasting act of Parliament […]
ref: 1882, [Mary Elizabeth Braddon], “In Society”, in Mount Royal […], volume I, London: John and Robert Maxwell […], →OCLC, pages 156–157:
glosses: Continuing for a long period; eternal.
examples: text: It is never dark here, you are novv come to the Country of Everlaſting Day; VVhat think you? Is not this Eliſium?
ref: 1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 99:
text: I'll diſpatch Them as ſoon as I can, but Heaven knovvs vvhen I ſhall get rid of Them, for They are both everlaſting Goſſips; […]
ref: 1761 February 12 (first performance), George Colman, The Jealous Wife: A Comedy. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […]; T. Becket, and Company, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; W. Jackson, […]; and A[lexander] Kincaid, and Company, […], published 1761, →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii], page 37:
text: There from a cave with torrent force, / And everlasting roar, / The black bitumen rolled.
ref: 1801, Robert Southey, “The Fifth Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume I, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 313:
text: His countenance was prematurely marked by deep furrows, and his grizzled hair waved over a low, rugged, and forbidding brow, on which there hung an everlasting frown that no smile from the lips (and the man smiled often) could chase away.
ref: 1837, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Ernest Maltravers […] , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5:
text: The French poetry, on the other hand, was deficient in strength and ardour. It was also too much filled with monotonous common-places; among which the tedious descriptions of spring, and the everlasting nightingale, are eminently to be reckoned.
ref: 1837–1839, Henry Hallam, “On the General State of Literature in the Middle Ages to the End of the Fourteenth Century”, in Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, paragraph 38, pages 46–47:
glosses: Happening all the time, especially to a tiresome extent; constant, incessant, unending.
examples: text: Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe than hell: / A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him; / On vvhoſe hard heart is button'd vp vvith ſteele: / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe: / A VVolfe, nay vvorſe, a fellovv all in buffe: […]
ref: c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 94, column 1:
text: [W]ere't not for my ſmooth, ſoft, ſilken Citizen, I vvould quit this tranſitorie trade, get mee an euerlaſting robe, ſeare vp my conſcience, and turne Serieant.
ref: 1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, signature G2, verso:
glosses: Of clothing or fabric: lasting a long time; very durable or hard-wearing.
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Chiefly in the name of a plant:
Having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried.
examples: text: The roote is threddy, like the roote of the ſecond kinde of Scrophularia, and is euer[-]laſting, putting forth yearely new ſprings, as alſo doth the rootes of the other two Scrophularies.
ref: 1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Water Betony⸝ or Broune-wurte”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 44:
text: [T]he ſtalkes and leaues of this [Telephium sempervirum or virens] indure alſo the ſharpneſſe of vvinter, and therefore vve may call it in Engliſh Orpin euerlaſting, or neuer dying Orpin.
ref: 1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Smaller Orpins”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 417:
text: Lathyrus ſylveſtris flore luteo. Tare everlaſting. This ramping vvilde Vetch or Tare as the country people call it, becauſe it is the moſt pernicious herbe that can grovv on the earth, for corne or any other good herbe that it ſhall grovv by, killing and ſtrangling them: […]
ref: 1640, John Parkinson, “Lathyrus. The Great Wilde Cicheling or Pease Everlasting.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1062:
topics: biology
botany
natural-sciences
glosses: Chiefly in the name of a plant:
Of a plant or plant part: synonym of perennial (“active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons”).
examples: text: The everlastin’ cus he stuck his one-pronged pitchfork in me / An’ made a hole right thru my close ez ef I wuz an in’my.
ref: 1848, [James Russell Lowell], “No. II. A Letter from Mr. Hosea Biglow to the Hon. J. T. Buckingham, Editor of the Boston Courier, Covering a Letter from Mr. B. Sawin, Private in the Massachusetts Regiment.”, in Homer Wilbur [pseudonym], editor, Melibœus-Hipponax. The Biglow Papers, […], Cambridge, Mass.: George Nichols, →OCLC, page 18:
text: "Come home now," he cried, "an' stop yet jawin', er I'll lam the everlasting head off yehs."
ref: 1896, Stephen Crane, chapter I, in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 8:
glosses: Used as an intensifier.
Synonyms: continual
endless
eternal
immortal
incessant
infinite
interminable
never-ending
permanent
unceasing
unintermitted
uninterrupted
unlimited
Hyponyms: sense: plants
taxonomic: Asteraceae spp.
word: everlasting daisy
sense: plants
taxonomic: Asteraceae spp.
word: everlasting flower
sense: plants
english: or any of various perennial grasses
translation: or any of various perennial grasses
taxonomic: Onobrychis viciifolia
word: everlasting grass
sense: plants
taxonomic: Lathyrus latifolius
word: everlasting pea
sense: plants
taxonomic: Pyracantha coccinea
word: everlasting thorn
Derived terms: word: co-everlasting
word: everlasting life
word: everlastingly
word: everlastingness
word: everlasting pool
word: everlasting staircase
word: everlasting syllabub
word: everlasting trimming
word: foreeverlasting