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ETERNAL
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I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Tiresomely long; seemingly without end
Example:
an interminable sermon
Synonyms:
endless; eternal; interminable
Classified under:
Similar:
long (primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified)
Derivation:
eternity (a seemingly endless time interval (waiting))
Sense 2
Meaning:
Continuing forever or indefinitely
Example:
the unending bliss of heaven
Synonyms:
aeonian; ageless; eonian; eternal; everlasting; perpetual; unceasing; unending
Classified under:
Similar:
lasting; permanent (continuing or enduring without marked change in status or condition or place)
Derivation:
eternity (a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife)
Context examples:
Therefore, I, on my part, give up here the certainty of eternal rest, and go out into the dark where may be the blackest things that the world or the nether world holds!
(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)
The air was calm, full of the eternal hum of insects, a tropical chorus of many octaves, from the deep drone of the bee to the high, keen pipe of the mosquito.
(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
But she could never get acquainted with her: she did not know how it was, but there was such coldness and reserve—such apparent indifference whether she pleased or not—and then, her aunt was such an eternal talker!—and she was made such a fuss with by every body!—and it had been always imagined that they were to be so intimate—because their ages were the same, every body had supposed they must be so fond of each other.
(Emma, by Jane Austen)
Well, then, you get on a horse, and go to—well, yes, I will!—to that eternal doctor swab, and tell him to pipe all hands—magistrates and sich—and he'll lay 'em aboard at the Admiral Benbow—all old Flint's crew, man and boy, all on 'em that's left.
(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)
In the eternal search for understanding what makes us human, scientists found that our brains are more sensitive to pitch, the harmonic sounds we hear when listening to music, than our evolutionary relative the macaque monkey.
(Our brains appear uniquely tuned for musical pitch, National Institutes of Health)
They went across divides in summer blizzards, shivered under the midnight sun on naked mountains between the timber line and the eternal snows, dropped into summer valleys amid swarming gnats and flies, and in the shadows of glaciers picked strawberries and flowers as ripe and fair as any the Southland could boast.
(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)
If 'genius is eternal patience', as Michelangelo affirms, Amy had some claim to the divine attribute, for she persevered in spite of all obstacles, failures, and discouragements, firmly believing that in time she should do something worthy to be called 'high art'.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
But the bid of the saint's eyes was mystery, and wonder unthinkable, and eternal life.
(Martin Eden, by Jack London)
I had actually, at times, considered myself outside the pale, a monkish fellow denied the eternal or the passing passions I saw and understood so well in others.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
In this manner, not only shall my own eternal salvation be secured, but thine also, for I shall never cease to intercede for thee.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
