noun
Meaning 1
Existence without end, infinite time.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Standard Lemma guide
eternity
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
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Received-Pronunciation: /ɪˈtɜːnɪti/
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Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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General-American: /əˈtɜɹnəti/
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General-American: /ɪ-/
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General-American: [-ɾi]
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Mid-Atlantic, US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)nɪti
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CMU ARPABET: IH0 T ER1 N AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
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CMU ARPABET 2: IY0 T ER1 N AH0 T IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
noun
Meaning 2
Existence outside of time.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: uncountable
Topics: human-sciences, lifestyle, philosophy, religion, sciences, theology
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 3
A period of time which extends infinitely far into the future.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 4
The remainder of time that elapses after death.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, uncountable
Qualifier: metaphysics
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 5
A comparatively long time.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: countable, excessive, informal, uncountable
Examples
- It's been an eternity since we last saw each other.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
noun
Meaning 6
a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: timelessness, timeless existence
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: being, beingness, existence
noun
Meaning 7
time without end
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: infinity
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: time
Narrower terms: alpha and omega
noun
Meaning 8
a seemingly endless time interval (waiting)
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: time interval, interval
History
Etymology
From Middle English eternyte, from Old French eternité, from Latin aeternitās. Displaced native Old English ēcnes.
Across languages
Translations
143 source translations are retained for this English entry.
- Southern Altai: мӧҥкӱлик (möŋkülik) — infinite time
- Arabic: أَبَد (ʔabad) — infinite time
- Armenian: հավերժություն (haveržutʻyun) — infinite time
- Armenian: հավիտենություն (havitenutʻyun) — infinite time
- Azerbaijani: əbədilik — infinite time
- Azerbaijani: daimlik — infinite time
- Azerbaijani: sonsuzluq — infinite time
- Bashkir: мәңгелек (məñgelek) — infinite time
- Belarusian: ве́чнасць (vjéčnascʹ) — infinite time
- Bulgarian: ве́чност (véčnost) — infinite time
- Catalan: eternitat — infinite time
- Cebuano: kahangtoran — infinite time
- Cherokee: ᎢᎪᎯᏓ (igohida) — infinite time
- Chinese Mandarin: 永遠 /永远 (yǒngyuǎn) — infinite time
- Czech: věčnost — infinite time
- Danish: evighed — infinite time
- Dutch: eeuwigheid — infinite time
- Esperanto: eterno — infinite time
- Esperanto: eterneco — infinite time
- Estonian: igavik — infinite time
- Faroese: ævinleiki — infinite time
- Faroese: ævi — infinite time
- Finnish: ikuisuus — infinite time
- French: éternité — infinite time
- Galician: eternidade — infinite time
- Georgian: მარადისობა (maradisoba) — infinite time
- German: Ewigkeit — infinite time
- Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍅𐍃 (aiws) — infinite time
- Gothic: 𐌰𐌾𐌿𐌺𐌳𐌿𐌸𐍃 (ajukdūþs) — infinite time
- Greek: αιωνιότης (aioniótis) — infinite time
- Greek: αϊδιότης (aïdiótis) — infinite time
- Greek: αϊδιότητα (aïdiótita) — infinite time
- Ancient Greek: αἰωνιότης (aiōniótēs) — infinite time
- Hawaiian: wā pau ʻole — infinite time
- Hawaiian: au pau ʻole — infinite time
- Hebrew: נֵצַח (nétzakh) — infinite time
- Hungarian: örökkévalóság — infinite time
- Icelandic: eilífð — infinite time
- Italian: eternità — infinite time
- Japanese: 永遠 (eien) — infinite time
- Japanese: 永久 (eikyū) — infinite time
- Japanese: とわ — infinite time
- Kazakh: жойылмаушылық (joiylmauşylyq) — infinite time
- Khmer: អនន្តភាព (ʼaʼnɑntaʼphiəp) — infinite time
- Korean: 영원 (yeong'won) — infinite time
- Korean: 영구 (yeonggu) — infinite time
- Kumyk: даимлик (daimlik) — infinite time
- Kyrgyz: маңгилик (maŋgilik) — infinite time
- Latin: aeternitas — infinite time
- Latvian: mūžība — infinite time
- Lingala: libélá — infinite time
- Lithuanian: amžinybė — infinite time
- Macedonian: вечност (večnost) — infinite time
- Māori: mutungakore — infinite time
- Norwegian Bokmål: evighet — infinite time
- Old English: ēcnes — infinite time
- Persian: جاودان (jâvdân) — infinite time
- Persian: همیشگی (hamišagi) — infinite time
- Persian: ابد (abad) — infinite time
- Plautdietsch: Eewichkjeit — infinite time
- Polish: wieczność — infinite time
- Portuguese: eternidade — infinite time
- Romanian: eternitate — infinite time
- Romanian: veșnicie — infinite time
- Russian: ве́чность (véčnostʹ) — infinite time
- Scottish Gaelic: sìorraidheachd — infinite time
- Serbo-Croatian: вечност — infinite time
- Serbo-Croatian: вјечност — infinite time
- Serbo-Croatian: večnost — infinite time
- Serbo-Croatian: vječnost — infinite time
- Slovak: večnosť — infinite time
- Slovene: večnost — infinite time
- Spanish: eternidad — infinite time
- Swedish: evighet — infinite time
- Tagalog: walang-hanggan — infinite time
- Tajik: абадият (abadiyat) — infinite time
- Tajik: ҳамешагӣ (hamešagi) — infinite time
- Tajik: ҷовидонӣ (jovidoni) — infinite time
- Turkish: sonsuzluk — infinite time
- Ukrainian: ві́чність (víčnistʹ) — infinite time
- Uyghur: مەڭگۈلۈك (menggülük) — infinite time
- Volapük: laidüp — infinite time
- Yoruba: ayérayé — infinite time
- Arabic: أبَدِيَّة — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Bashkir: мәңгелек (məñgelek) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Belarusian: ве́чнасць (vjéčnascʹ) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Bulgarian: ве́чност (véčnost) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Chinese Mandarin: 永遠 /永远 (yǒngyuǎn) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Chinese Mandarin: 永恆 /永恒 (yǒnghéng) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Czech: věčnost — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Dutch: eeuwigheid — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Finnish: ikuisuus — time extending infinitely far into the future
- French: éternité — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Galician: eternidade — time extending infinitely far into the future
- German: Ewigkeit — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Hebrew: נֵצַח (nétzakh) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Icelandic: eilífð — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Italian: eternità — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Persian: ابدیت — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Polish: wieczność — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Portuguese: eternidade — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Romanian: veșnicie — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Romanian: eternitate — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Russian: ве́чность (véčnostʹ) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Scottish Gaelic: sìorraidheachd — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Serbo-Croatian: zauvijek — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Ukrainian: ві́чність (víčnistʹ) — time extending infinitely far into the future
- Bashkir: мәңгелек (məñgelek) — period of time that elapses after death
- Bulgarian: задгробен живот (zadgroben život) — period of time that elapses after death
- Chinese Mandarin: 來世 /来世 (láishì) — period of time that elapses after death
- Czech: věčnost — period of time that elapses after death
- Dutch: de eeuwigheid — period of time that elapses after death
- Finnish: iäisyys — period of time that elapses after death
- French: éternité — period of time that elapses after death
- Galician: eternidade — period of time that elapses after death
- German: Ewigkeit — period of time that elapses after death
- Hebrew: נצח (nétzakh) — period of time that elapses after death
- Icelandic: eilífð — period of time that elapses after death
- Italian: eternità — period of time that elapses after death
- Lithuanian: amžinybė — period of time that elapses after death
- Polish: wieczność — period of time that elapses after death
- Portuguese: eternidade — period of time that elapses after death
- Romanian: eternitate — period of time that elapses after death
- Russian: ве́чность (véčnostʹ) — period of time that elapses after death
- Scottish Gaelic: sìorraidheachd — period of time that elapses after death
- Serbo-Croatian: zagrobni život — period of time that elapses after death
- Chinese Mandarin: 無終止 /无终止 (wúzhōngzhǐ) — informal: a comparatively long time
- Czech: věčnost — informal: a comparatively long time
- Dutch: eeuwigheid — informal: a comparatively long time
- Finnish: ikuisuus — informal: a comparatively long time
- Finnish: iäisyys — informal: a comparatively long time
- French: éternité — informal: a comparatively long time
- Galician: eternidade — informal: a comparatively long time
- German: Ewigkeit — informal: a comparatively long time
- Hebrew: נצח (nétzakh) — informal: a comparatively long time
- Icelandic: eilífð — informal: a comparatively long time
- Italian: eternità — informal: a comparatively long time
- Polish: wieczność — informal: a comparatively long time
- Portuguese: eternidade — informal: a comparatively long time
- Romanian: eternitate — informal: a comparatively long time
- Russian: ве́чность (véčnostʹ) — informal: a comparatively long time
- Scottish Gaelic: sìorraidheachd — informal: a comparatively long time
- Serbo-Croatian: beskraj — informal: a comparatively long time
Real reading context