different between illimitable vs eternal

English

Etymology

From il- +? limitable.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ?l?m'?t?b?l
• IPA^(key): /??l?m?t?b?l/

Adjective

illimitable (comparative more illimitable, superlative most illimitable)

1. Impervious to limitation, without limit.

   Synonyms: infinite, limitless, unlimited

   Antonyms: limitable, limited

   • 1838, Ralph Waldo Emerson, "An Address delivered before the Senior Class in Divinity College, Cambridge, Sunday evening, 15 July, 1838":

     The perception of this law of laws awakens in the mind a sentiment which we call the religious sentiment, and which makes our highest happiness. ... This sentiment is divine and deifying. It is the beatitude of man. It makes him illimitable.

   • 1908, Helen Keller, The World I Live In, New York: The Century Co., Chapter 4, p. 43,^[1]

     Through the sense of touch I know […] the illimitable variety of straight and curved lines,

   • ca. 1909, Mark Twain, Letters from the Earth [Introduction]:

     The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before him rose the black night of Space, like a wall.

   • 1909, Jack London, Revolution and Other Essays: The Shrinkage of the Planet

     What a tremendous affair it was, the world of Homer, with its indeterminate boundaries, vast regions, and immeasurable distances. The Mediterranean and the Euxine were illimitable stretches of ocean waste over which years could be spent in endless wandering.

Derived terms

• illimitability
• illimitably

See also

• inimitable

English

Alternative forms

• æternal (chiefly archaic)
• æternall, eternall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English eternal, from Old French eternal, from Late Latin aetern?lis, from Latin aeternus (“eternal”), from aevum (“age”).

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /??t?n?l/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /??t??n?l/
• Rhymes: -??(?)n?l
• Hyphenation: eter?nal

Adjective

eternal (not comparable)

1. Lasting forever; unending.

   Synonyms: agelong, endless, everlasting, permanent, sempiternal, unending; see also Thesaurus:eternal

   Antonyms: ephemeral, momentary, transient; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral

2. (philosophy) existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly

   Synonyms: timeless, atemporal; see also Thesaurus:timeless

3. (hyperbolic) Constant; perpetual; ceaseless; ever-present.
4. (dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.

   Synonym: awful

Usage notes

May be used postpositively, as in peace eternal, possibly as a result of Latin influence.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

eternal (plural eternals)

1. One who lives forever; an immortal.

Anagrams

• enteral, teneral

References

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis, attested from the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /?.t???nal/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /?.t?r?nal/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /e.te??nal/

Adjective

eternal (masculine and feminine plural eternals)

1. eternal

   Synonym: etern

References

Further reading

• “eternal” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “eternal” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “eternal” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

Galician

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m or f (plural eternais)

1. (formal) eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega, Royal Galician Academy.

Middle English

Alternative forms

• eterneel, eternall

Etymology

Borrowed from Old French eternal, eternel, from Latin aetern?lis; equivalent to eterne +? -al.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??t?r?na?l/, /???t?rnal/, /??t?r?n??l/

Adjective

eternal

1. Eternal, permanent; having existed (and existing) forever.
2. Endless, unending; lasting forever.
3. (rare) Long-lasting; non-ephemeral.

Synonyms

• eterne

Descendants

• English: eternal, tarnal
• Scots: eternal

References

• “?tern??l, -??l, adj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-01-19.

Occitan

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m (feminine singular eternala, masculine plural eternals, feminine plural eternalas)

1. eternal

   Synonym: etèrn

Portuguese

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal m or f (plural eternais, not comparable)

1. eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa.

Spanish

Etymology

From Latin aetern?lis.

Adjective

eternal (plural eternales)

1. eternal

   Synonym: eterno

Further reading

• “eternal” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.