forever means permanent, lasting; constant, perpetual. It carries an Arena rating of 1626, earned across 17 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, forever ranks #1,964 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #2,103 of 17,130 for Most Beautiful Words, #3,842 of 17,124 for Most Sublime Words, #4,694 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words.
forever is pronounced /fəˈɹɛvə(ɹ)/.
Why “forever” is a great word
For all future time, or lasting for an infinite duration. It is a univerbation of the phrase 'for ever', from Middle English 'for ever', 'for evere', itself from 'for' + 'ever'. The latter derives from Old English æfre ("always, ever"). First attested as a phrase in the late 14th century and as a single word in the late 17th century. The noun sense is first attested in 1858. Unlike a *moment*, which is a brief, specific point, or *continually*, which implies persistent but potentially interruptible recurrence, *forever* asserts an unbroken and absolute continuum. It is the slow corrosion of a stone stair worn concave by centuries of feet, the lighthouse beam sweeping across black water without hope of stopping, and the scent of rain on dry earth that never quite fades—a concept both mathematically pure and profoundly human, a necessary fiction against which we measure every fleeting thing.
Etymology
Univerbation of for ever, from Middle English for ever, for evere. By surface analysis, for + ever. First attested in the late 14c., and first attested in the late 17c. as one word. Noun first attested in 1858.
adj
- Permanent, lasting; constant, perpetual.e.g.“It'd be a peaceful life / With a forever wife / And a kid someday” — 1971, Bruce Johnston, "Disney Girls (1957)":
adv
- For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time.e.g.“I shall love you forever.”
- For a very long time, a seeming eternity.e.g.“We had to wait forever to get inside.”
- Constantly or frequently.e.g.“You are forever nagging me.”
noun
- An extremely long time.e.g.“I haven't seen him in forever!”
- A mythical time in the future that will never come.e.g.“Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever.”
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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