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Continual vs Eternal - What's the difference?

continual | eternal |

Eternal is a synonym of continual.



As adjectives the difference between continual and eternal

is that continual is recurring in steady, rapid succession while eternal is lasting forever; unending.

continual

English

Alternative forms

* continuall (obsolete)

Adjective

(-)
  • Recurring in steady, rapid succession.
  • (proscribed) Seemingly continuous; appearing to have no end or interruption.
  • (proscribed) Forming a continuous series.

    • Usage notes

    In careful usage, continual refers to repeated'' actions “continual objections”, while continuous refers to ''uninterrupted'' actions or objects “continuous flow”, “played music continuously from dusk to dawn”. However, this distinction is not observed in informal usage, a noted example being the magic spell name “continual light” (unbroken light), in the game ''.

    Related terms

    * continuance * continuation * continue * continuous * continuum

    References

    External links

    * *

    Anagrams

    *

    eternal

    English

    Alternative forms

    * (chiefly archaic) * (obsolete) * eternall (obsolete)

    Adjective

    (-)
  • Lasting forever; unending.
  • * John Locke
    • to know whether there were any real being, whose duration has been eternal
  • * Dryden
    • Fires eternal in thy temple shine.
  • * {{quote-news
    • , year=2012 , date=May 27 , author=Nathan Rabin , title=TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992) , work=The Onion AV Club citation , page= , passage=In a bid to understand the eternal mystery that is woman, Bart goes to the least qualified possible source for advice and counsel: his father, who remarkably seems to have made it to his mid-30s without quite figuring out much of anything. }}
  • (philosophy) existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly
  • (dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.
    • some eternal villain

    Synonyms

    * permanent, sempiternal, endless, everlasting * (existing outside time) timeless, atemporal

    Antonyms

    * ephemeral * sempiternal

    Derived terms

    * eternal life * eternal recurrence * eternal return * eternal triangle * hope springs eternal

    Anagrams

    * English words suffixed with -al ----