eternity

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e·ter·ni·ty

(ĭ-tûr′nĭ-tē)

n. pl. e·ter·ni·ties

1. Time without beginning or end; infinite time.

2. The state or quality of being eternal.

a. The timeless state following death.

b. The afterlife; immortality.

4. A very long or seemingly endless time: waited in the dentist's office for an eternity.

[Middle English eternite, from Old French, from Latin aeternitās, from aeternus, eternal; see eternal.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

eternity

(ɪˈtɜːnɪtɪ)

n, pl -ties

1. endless or infinite time

2. the quality, state, or condition of being eternal

3. (usually plural) any of the aspects of life and thought that are considered to be timeless, esp timeless and true

4. (Theology) theol the condition of timeless existence, believed by some to characterize the afterlife

5. a seemingly endless period of time: an eternity of waiting.

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

e•ter•ni•ty

(ɪˈtɜr nɪ ti)

n., pl. -ties.

1. infinite time; duration without beginning or end.

2. eternal existence, esp. as contrasted with mortal life.

3. the timeless state into which the soul is believed to pass at death.

4. a seemingly endless period of time.

5. eternities, truths or realities regarded as timeless.

[1325–75; eternite < Latin aeternitās]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	eternity - time without end infinity time - the continuum of experience in which events pass from the future through the present to the past alpha and omega - the first and last; signifies God's eternity
	2.	eternity - a state of eternal existence believed in some religions to characterize the afterlife timeless existence, timelessness being, beingness, existence - the state or fact of existing; "a point of view gradually coming into being"; "laws in existence for centuries"
	3.	eternity - a seemingly endless time interval (waiting) interval, time interval - a definite length of time marked off by two instants

eternity

noun

1. (Theology) the afterlife, heaven, paradise, the next world, the hereafter I have always found the thought of eternity terrifying.

2. perpetuity, immortality, infinity, timelessness, endlessness, infinitude, time without end the idea that our species will survive for all eternity

3. ages, years, an age, centuries, for ever (informal), aeons, donkey's years (informal), yonks (informal), a month of Sundays (informal), a long time or while, an age or eternity The war went on for an eternity.

Quotations
"Eternity's a terrible thought. I mean, where's it all going to end?" [Tom Stoppard Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead]
"Eternity! thou pleasing, dreadful thought!" [Joseph Addison Cato]
"Every instant of time is a pinprick of eternity" [Marcus Aurelius Meditations]
"Eternity is in love with the productions of time" [William Blake The Marriage of Heaven and Hell]

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

eternity

noun

1. The totality of time without beginning or end:

eternality, eternalness, infinity, perpetuity, sempiternity.

2. The quality or state of having no end:

ceaselessness, endlessness, eternality, eternalness, everlastingness, perpetuity, world without end.

3. Endless life after death:

afterlife, deathlessness, everlasting life, everlastingness, immortality.

4. A long time:

eon, long, year (used in plural).

Informal: age (used in plural), blue moon.

Idioms: forever and a day, forever and ever, month of Sundays.

Translations

أَبَدِيَّه، أزَلخُلُودخُلود، أبَدِيَّهوَقْت لا نِهائي

věčnost

evighedEvigheden

Ewigkeit

αϊδιότης αιωνιότης αιωνιότητα

eterno

eternidad

ikuisuusiäisyys

éternité

נצח

vječnost

örökkévalóság

eilífî, óendanleikihiî eilífa lífóratími

eternità eterno eternit...

永遠性

영원

večnost

evighet

นิรันดร

bin yılçok uzun görünen bir sureölümsüzlüksonsuzsonsuzluk

sự vĩnh viễn

来世永恒永生永远

eternity

[ɪˈtɜːnɪtɪ]

A. N → eternidad f
it seemed like an eternity → pareció una eternidad or un siglo

B. CPD eternity ring N → anillo m de brillantes

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

eternity

[ɪˈtɜː^rnɪti] n

(= endless time) → éternité f

(= very long time) for an eternity → une éternité
The war continued for an eternity → La guerre a duré une éternité.
It seemed to last for an eternity → Cela a duré une éternité.

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

eternity

n (lit, fig: inf) → Ewigkeit f; (Rel: = the future life) → das ewige Leben; from here to eternity → bis in alle Ewigkeit; for all eternity → in alle Ewigkeit; it seemed an eternity → es kam mir wie eine Ewigkeit vor

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

eternity

[ɪˈtɜːnɪtɪ] n → eternità

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

eternal

(iˈtəːnl) adjective

1. without end; lasting for ever; unchanging. God is eternal; eternal life.

2. never ceasing. I am tired of your eternal complaints.

eˈternally adverb

eˈternity noun

1. time without end.

2. a seemingly endless time. He waited for an eternity.

3. the state or time after death.

eternity

→ خُلُود věčnost evighed Ewigkeit αιωνιότητα eternidad ikuisuus éternité vječnost eternità 永遠性 영원 eeuwigheid evighet wieczność eternidade вечность evighet นิรันดร sonsuz sự vĩnh viễn 永远

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References in classic literature ?

It had spared him the tortures of the agony, convulsions of the last departure; had opened with an indulgent finger the gates of eternity to that noble soul.

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The June night was short; but it seemed an eternity to those who waited and watched.

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Orlando, I could hear, wished to make more extended arrangements, and references to that well-known rendezvous, "Eternity," fell on my ears from time to time.

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And when the awful rite was finished, and with cold hand in cold hand, the Married of Eternity withdrew, the organ's peal of solemn triumph drowned the Wedding Knell.

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"The Temple of Issus is to the therns what the Valley Dor is imagined by the peoples of the outer world to be to them; it is the ultimate haven of peace, refuge, and happiness to which they pass after this life and wherein an eternity of eternities is spent amidst the delights of the flesh which appeal most strongly to this race of mental giants and moral pygmies."

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"The soul is immortal- well then, if I shall always live I must have lived before, lived for a whole eternity."

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Perhaps he loveth in thee the unmoved eye, and the look of eternity.

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"BUT souls that of his own good life partake, He loves as his own self; dear as his eye They are to Him: He'll never them forsake: When they shall die, then God himself shall die: They live, they live in blest eternity." Henry More.

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Thus it was, I first got accurate notions of the almost inconceivable magnitude of space, to which, indeed, it is probable there are no more positive limits than there are a beginning and an end to eternity! Can these wonders be, I thought--and how pitiful in those who affect to reduce all things to the level of their own powers of comprehension, and their own experience in practice!

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"I see no reason, then, why our metaphysical poets should plume themselves so much on the utility of their works, unless indeed they refer to instruction with eternity in view; in which case, sincere respect for their piety would not allow me to express my contempt for their judgment; contempt which it would be difficult to conceal, since their writings are professedly to be understood by the few, and it is the many who stand in need of salvation.

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Yes, there is death in this business of whaling --a speechlessly quick chaotic bundling of a man into Eternity. But what then?

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Can't you see yourself, without my telling you, what an eternity it is?"

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