everlasting
/ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/
everlasting means lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal. It carries an Arena rating of 1758, earned across 20 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, everlasting ranks #184 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #228 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #1,530 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,057 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books.
everlasting is pronounced /ˌɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ/.
Why “everlasting” is a great word
An enduring or perpetual state that persists without end. From Middle English ever-lasting, a compound of ever (from Old English ǣfre, possibly from ā 'always' + in fēore 'in life') and lasting. Unlike 'ephemeral' (which describes the mayfly's single day) or 'sempiternal' (which confines infinity to the forward march of time), everlasting reaches beyond duration into something more absolute. It is the stone worn smooth by centuries of tides, the scent of pine resin trapped in amber for millennia, and the cold, unwavering light of a star long dead that still travels toward us—a testament to the stubborn, unglamorous persistence of what refuses to become memory.
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 repre
adj
- Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
- Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.; Chiefly of a deity or other supernatural being: having always existed and will continue to exist forever; eternal.
- Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.; Synonym of sempiternal (“having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether”).
- Continuing for a long period; eternal.e.g.“this everlasting nonsense”
- Happening all the time, especially to a tiresome extent; constant, incessant, unending.
- Of clothing or fabric: lasting a long time; very durable or hard-wearing.
- Chiefly in the name of a plant:; Having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried.
- 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”).
- Used as an intensifier.e.g.“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.” — 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 Regi
adv
- Synonym of everlastingly.; Used as an intensifier: extremely, very.
- Synonym of everlastingly.; In an everlasting (adjective sense 1) manner; forever.
noun
- Chiefly with a descriptive word: short for everlasting flower (“any of several plants, chiefly of the family Asteraceae (principally the tribe Gnaphalieae), having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried; also, a flower of such a plant”)
- Preceded by the: someone or something that lasts forever, or that that has always existed and will continue to exist forever; an eternal, an immortal; specifically (Christianity), God.
- Synonym of lasting (“(uncountable) a durable, plain, woven fabric formerly used for making clothes and for the uppers of women's shoes; (countable) a quantity of such fabric”).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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