perpetual

English

Alternative forms

• perpetuall (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English perpetuel, from Old French perpetuel, from Latin perpetuālis (“universal”),^[1][2] from perpetuus, from petō.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /pɚˈpɛt͡ʃuəl/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /pəˈpɛtʃʊəl/, /pəˈpɛtjʊəl/
• Hyphenation: per‧pet‧u‧al

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

perpetual (not comparable)

1. Lasting forever, or for an indefinitely long time.

   Synonyms: persistent; see also Thesaurus:eternal

2. Set up to be in effect or have tenure for an unlimited duration.

   perpetual copyright

3. Continuing; uninterrupted.

   Synonyms: continuous, nonstop

   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 297:

     "And yet," returned Francesca, "the secret of Arden's sufferings seems to have been in himself. From earliest youth he indulged in vain contrasts and repinings, and even his very love was selfish and cruel. Think how much happiness he lost by his perpetual exaggerations!"

   • 1986 June 6, Richard Feynman, “Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle”, in Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Report to the President:

     There are perpetual requests for changes as new payloads and new demands and modifications are suggested by the users.

4. (botany) Flowering throughout the growing season.

   By means of artificial hybridization, practised for a series of years, he has succeeded in producing a race of carnations which are perpetual bloomers.

   The hybrid perpetual roses as a rule require to be pruned to within 4 to 6 inches of the ground.

Derived terms

• a contented mind is a perpetual feast
• perpetual beta
• perpetual bond
• perpetual canon
• perpetual curate
• perpetual inventory
• perpetual license
• perpetually
• perpetual motion
• perpetual motion machine
• perpetual motion machine of the first kind
• perpetual motion machine of the second kind
• perpetual pill

 

Related terms

• perpetuate

Translations

lasting forever

Bulgarian: вечен (bg) (večen), безкраен (bg) (bezkraen) Catalan: perpetu (ca), perpetual (ca) Danish: evig (da) Dutch: eeuwig (nl), eeuwigdurend (nl) Finnish: ikuinen (fi), päättymätön (fi) French: perpétuel (fr) Galician: perpetuo German: unbefristet (de), ewig (de), immerwährend (de), unaufhörlich (de), dauerhaft (de), permanent (de) Greek: παντοτινός (el) (pantotinós) Ancient: αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) Hungarian: örökös (hu), örökké tartó Indonesian: abadi (id) Ingrian: jokaaikain Irish: síoraí Italian: perpetuo (it) Korean: 영구의 (yeongguui) Latin: aeternus (la), perpetuus (la), sempiternus Maori: mutungakore Norwegian: Bokmål: evigvarende Occitan: perpetual (oc) Old English: ēċe Ottoman Turkish: صوڭسز (soñsız), ابدی (ebedî), دایم (daim), موبد (muʿebbed), پاینده (payende, payanda) Polish: wieczny (pl) Portuguese: perpétuo (pt) Romanian: perpetuu (ro) Russian: вечный (ru) (večnyj) Spanish: perpetuo (es) Ukrainian: вічний (vičnyj)

continuing; uninterrupted

Bulgarian: постоянен (bg) (postojanen), непрекъснат (bg) (neprekǎsnat) Chinese: Cantonese: 無休止嘅 / 无休止嘅 (mou4 jau1 zi2 ge3), 連續不斷嘅 / 连续不断嘅 (lin4 zuk6 bat1 dyun6 ge3) Danish: vedvarende, permanent (da) Finnish: jatkuva (fi), päättymätön (fi) German: ununterbrochen (de), ständig (de), fortwährend (de), perpetuell (de) (archaic) Greek: αέναος (el) (aénaos) Ancient: ἐνδελεχής (endelekhḗs) Hungarian: örökös (hu), folytonos (hu), szakadatlan (hu) Irish: síoraí Italian: perenne (it) Latin: perpetuus (la), perpes, iūgis Polish: bezustanny (pl) Portuguese: perpétuo (pt) Romanian: perpetuu (ro) Ukrainian: безперервний (uk) (bezperervnyj), постійний (postijnyj)

flowering throughout the growing season

Danish: stedsegrøn (da) (used with green plants; literally "ever green") Finnish: koko kasvukauden kukkiva German: immerblühend Greek: πολυετής (el) (polyetís) Portuguese: perpétuo (pt) Romanian: please add this translation if you can

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Hebrew: (please verify) תמידי (t'midí)

Noun

perpetual (plural perpetuals)

1. Ellipsis of perpetual check.

References

1. “perpetual”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
2. Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “perpetual”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

Further reading

• “perpetual”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central, Balearic) [pər.pə.tuˈal]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [peɾ.pe.tuˈal]

Adjective

perpetual m or f (masculine and feminine plural perpetuals)

1. perpetual

   Synonym: perpetu

Derived terms

• perpetualment

Further reading

• “perpetual” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “perpetual”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “perpetual” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “perpetual” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.