Etymology Explorer › English

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

  1. Lasting forever; unending; existing outside time;...

Ancestry of “eternal”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle EnglisheternalEternal, permanent; having existed forever;...
2Old Frencheternal—
3Latinaeternālis—
4Latinaeternusabiding, lasting, permanent, perpetual; eternal,...
5Latinaevumtime as a single, unified, continuous and...
6LatinaevomArchaic form of aevum
7Old Latinaivomtime, lifetime; age
8Proto-Italicaiwomage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eyu-vitality; eternal; vital force, life, long life,...
10Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂ey-vital force, life, age, eternity; day, morning

Words derived from “eternal”

  • eternality
  • coeternal
  • tarnal
  • eternalism
  • eternalist
  • eternalize
  • noneternal
  • eternalness
  • coeternally
  • coeternalness
Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂ey- →