What is the difference between forever and eternal?
forever | eternal |
(duration) for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.
* 1839 , Denison Olmsted, A Compendium of Astronomy Page 95
(duration, colloquial) for a very long time, 'an' eternity.
(frequency) constantly or frequently.
* 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
An extremely long time.
*
* 2007 , Ruth O'Callaghan, Where acid has etched
(colloquial) a mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.
Lasting forever; unending.
* John Locke
* Dryden
* {{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
(philosophy) existing outside time; as opposed to sempiternal, existing within time but everlastingly
(dated) Exceedingly great or bad; used as an intensifier.
As an adverb forever
is for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.As a noun forever
is an extremely long time.As an adjective eternal is
lasting forever; unending.forever
English
Alternative forms
* for everAdverb
(-)- ''I shall love you forever .
- Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever , unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
- ''We had to wait forever to get inside.
- ''You are forever nagging me.
- Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.
Usage notes
* In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever'' may be used instead of ''forever'' for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only ''forever is used, regardless of sense.Synonyms
* always * continually * eternally * evermore * for good * forevermore * for ever more * incessantly * until Kingdom comeDerived terms
* forevernessNoun
(en noun)- In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers , the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.
- ''Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever .
eternal
English
Alternative forms
* (chiefly archaic) * (obsolete) * eternall (obsolete)Adjective
(-)- to know whether there were any real being, whose duration has been eternal
- Fires eternal in thy temple shine.
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. }}
- some eternal villain
