Noun

(uncountable) Existence without end, infinite time.

* 1829', , ''Sermon LVIII: On the '''Eternity of God'', in ''Sermons on Several Occasions , Volume 2, 10th edition, page 1,

Eternity' has generally been considered as divisible into two parts; which have been termed, '''eternity''' ''a parte ante'', and '''eternity''' ''a parte post'': that is, in plain English, that '''eternity''' which is past, and that ' eternity which is to come.

* 1886 , , Systematic Theology: a Compendium and Commonplace-book Designed for the Use of Theological Students , page 190,

This theory regards creation as an act of God in eternity past.

* 2000 , , Human Nature in It's Fourfold State , page 247,

Those who like not the company of the saints on earth will get none of it in eternity'; but, as godless company is their delight now, they will afterwards get enough of it, when they have ' eternity to pass in the roaring and blaspheming society of devils and reprobates in hell.

(uncountable, philosophy) Existence outside of time.

* 1879 , (editor) ''Journal of Discourses , Volume 21,

We sometimes speak of eternity' in contradistinction to time; and often say, "through time and into '''eternity''';" and again "from '''eternity''' to '''eternity'''," which is simply another form of expressing the same idea, and "pass through time into '''eternity'''." in other words, time is a short period allotted to man in his probationary state—and we use the word time in contradistinction to the word ' eternity , merely for the accommodation of man in his finite sphere, that we may comprehend and learn to measure periods.

(countable) A period of time which extends infinitely far into the future.

(metaphysical) The remainder of time that elapses after death.

(informal, hyperbole) A comparatively long time.

It's been an eternity since we last saw each other.

Noun

The time ahead; those moments yet to be experienced.

Something that will happen in moments yet to come.

Goodness in what is yet to come/Something to look forward to.

* {{quote-magazine, date=2013-08-03, volume=408, issue=8847, magazine=(The Economist)

, title= Revenge of the nerds , passage=Think of banking today and the image is of grey-suited men in towering skyscrapers. Its future , however, is being shaped in converted warehouses and funky offices in San Francisco, New York and London, where bright young things in jeans and T-shirts huddle around laptops, sipping lattes or munching on free food.}}

(grammar) Verb tense used to talk about events that will happen in the future; future tense.

(finance) A standardized, tradable agreement between two parties that one will sell and the other will buy a specific commodity at a specific later date and a specific price.