Where does “eternal” come from?
Eternal comes from Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Latin aeternalis, formed from Latin aevum meaning age or lifetime with the suffix -alis.
eternal (English): Lasting forever; unending; existing outside time;...
Definitions
- Lasting forever; unending; existing outside time;...
Ancestry of “eternal”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | eternal | Eternal, permanent; having existed forever;... |
| 2 | Old French | eternal | — |
| 3 | Latin | aeternālis | eternal, everlasting, temporally infinite |
| 4 | Latin | aeternus | abiding, lasting, permanent, perpetual; eternal,... |
| 5 | Latin | aevum | time as a single, unified, continuous and... |
| 6 | Latin | aevom | Archaic form of aevum |
| 7 | Old Latin | aivom | time, lifetime; age |
| 8 | Proto-Italic | aiwom | age |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eyu- | vitality; eternal; vital force, life, long life,... |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂ey- | vital force, life, age, eternity; day, morning |