everlasting

comparative more everlasting · superlative most everlasting · alternative ever-lasting

1. Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.

   VVhy, in Heaven I ſhall have an everlaſting Holyday of Pleaſure.

   1649, Richard Baxter, “An Example of this Heavenly Contemplation, for the Help of the Unskilful”, in The Saints Everlasting Rest: Or, A Treatise of the Blessed State of the Saints in Their Enjoyment of God in Glory. […], London: […] Rob[ert] White, for Thomas Underhil and Francis Tyton, […], →OCLC, part IV (Containing a Directory for the Getting and Keeping of the Heart in Heaven: […]), section 2, page 807

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   And vvhether vve ſhall meete againe, I knovv not: / Therefore our euerlaſting farevvell take: / For euer, and for euer, farevvell, Caſſius, / If vve do meete againe, vvhy vve ſhall ſmile; / If not, vvhy then this parting vvas vvell made.

   1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Iulius Cæsar”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 128, column 1

   And I will giue vnto thee, and to thy ſeed after thee, the land wherein thou art a ſtranger, all the land of Canaan, for an euerlaſting poſſeſſion, and I will be their God.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 17:8, signature B2, recto, column 2

   And vvhat a trifle is a moments Breath, / Laid in the Scale vvith everlaſting Death?

   1668, John Denham, “Of Prudence”, in Poems and Translations, with The Sophy, London: […] [John Macock] for H[enry] Herringman […], →OCLC, page 155

   I muſt venture: To go back is nothing but death, to go forvvard is fear of death, and life everlaſting beyond it. I vvill yet go forvvard.

   1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That which is to Come: […], London: […] Nath[aniel] Ponder […], →OCLC, page 45

   Philoſophers, vvho darken and put out / Eternal truth by everlaſting doubt, […]

   1782, William Cowper, “The Progress of Error”, in Poems, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], →OCLC, page 65

   1. Chiefly of a deity or other supernatural being: having always existed and will continue to exist forever; eternal.

      And Abraham planted trees at Berſeba, and called vpon the name of the LORDE yͤ euerlaſting God, and was a ſtraunger in yͤ londe of the Philiſtynes a longe ſeaſon.

      1535 October 14 (Gregorian calendar), Myles Coverdale, transl., Biblia: The Byble, […] (Coverdale Bible), [Cologne or Marburg]: [Eucharius Cervicornus and Johannes Soter?], →OCLC, Genesis xxj:[33–34], folio ix, recto, column 2

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      For vnto vs a child [Jesus] is borne, vnto vs a Sonne is giuen, and the gouernment ſhalbe vpon his ſhoulder: and his name ſhalbe called, Wonderfull, Counſeller, The mightie God, The euerlaſting Father, The Prince of peace.

      1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Isaiah 9:6, signature [Mmm4], verso, column 2

      All of them, the good supernatural beings, they call also 'altgiva,' [apparently an early rendering of "altjira"] as well as the firmament, with the sun, moon, and stars; also the earth, and any things specially remarkable. The word 'altgiva' signifies that these had an everlasting existence.

      1890, F[riedrich] E[douard] H[einrich] W[ulf] Krichauff, “The Customs, Religious Ceremonies, etc. of the ‘Aldolinga’ and ‘Mbenderinga’ Tribe of Aborigines in Krichauff Ranges, South Australia”, in Proceedings of the Royal Geographical Society of Australasia, South Australian Branch, volume 2, Adelaide, S.A.: H. F. Leader, […], →ISSN, →OCLC, page 35; quoted in Sam D. Gill, “Altjira”, in Storytracking: Texts, Stories, and Histories in Central Australia, Oxford, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Oxford University Press, 1998, →ISBN, page 87

   2. human sciencesSynonym of sempiternal (“having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether”).

      Synonyms: sempiternal

2. excessiveinformalContinuing for a long period; eternal.

   this everlasting nonsense

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   And it [this History] is compiled rather for an Everlasting Possession, then to be rehearſed for a Prize.

   1629, Thucydides, “The First Booke”, in Thomas Hobbes, transl., Eight Bookes of the Peloponnesian Warre […], London: […] Hen[ry] Seile, […], →OCLC, page 13

   [T]hink hovv [Francis] Bacon ſhin'd, / The vviſeſt, brighteſt, meaneſt of Mankind: / Or raviſh'd vvith the vvhiſtling of a Name, / See [Oliver] Cromvvell, damn'd to everlaſting Fame!

   1734, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle IV, London: […] J[ohn] Wilford, […], →OCLC, page 75, lines 277–280

   [S]he mark'd thee there, / Stretch'd on the rack of a too-eaſy Chair; / And heard thy everlaſting yavvn confeſs / The Pains and penalties of Idleneſs.

   1742, [Alexander Pope], “Book the Fourth”, in The New Dunciad: As is^([sic]) It was Found in the Year 1741. […], Dublin: […] George Faulkner, →OCLC, pages 31–32, lines 331–334

   [T]he rivulet that swells it [a river], descends from the everlasting mountains, or is formed by the rains of Heaven.

   1832, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter X, in Eugene Aram. A Tale. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 162

   I am Juan de la Nuza, the father of the young officer whose life you saved in the assault of the Moriscos, in Valentia, and I owe you an everlasting gratitude.

   1838, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], “The Counterplot”, in “Calderon, the Courtier: A Tale”, in Leila; or, The Siege of Granada: And Calderon, the Courtier. […], London: Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, and Longmans; Paris: Delloy and Co., →OCLC, book, page 377

3. excessiveinformalHappening all the time, especially to a tiresome extent; constant, incessant, unending.

   There from a cave with torrent force, / And everlasting roar, / The black bitumen rolled.

   1801, Robert Southey, “The Fifth Book”, in Thalaba the Destroyer, volume I, London: […] [F]or T[homas] N[orton] Longman and O[wen] Rees, […], by Biggs and Cottle, […], →OCLC, page 313

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   It is never dark here, you are novv come to the Country of Everlaſting Day; VVhat think you? Is not this Eliſium?

   1725, [Daniel Defoe], “Part II”, in A New Voyage Round the World, by a Course Never Sailed before. […], London: […] A[rthur] Bettesworth, […]; and W. Mears, […], →OCLC, page 99

   I'll diſpatch Them as ſoon as I can, but Heaven knovvs vvhen I ſhall get rid of Them, for They are both everlaſting Goſſips; […]

   1761 February 12 (first performance), George Colman, The Jealous Wife: A Comedy. […], London: […] J[ohn] Newbery, […]; T. Becket, and Company, […]; T[homas] Davies, […]; W. Jackson, […]; and A[lexander] Kincaid, and Company, […], published 1761, →OCLC, Act II, scene [ii], page 37

   His countenance was prematurely marked by deep furrows, and his grizzled hair waved over a low, rugged, and forbidding brow, on which there hung an everlasting frown that no smile from the lips (and the man smiled often) could chase away.

   1837, [Edward Bulwer-Lytton], chapter I, in Ernest Maltravers […] , volume I, London: Saunders and Otley, […], →OCLC, book I, page 5

   The French poetry, on the other hand, was deficient in strength and ardour. It was also too much filled with monotonous common-places; among which the tedious descriptions of spring, and the everlasting nightingale, are eminently to be reckoned.

   1837–1839, Henry Hallam, “On the General State of Literature in the Middle Ages to the End of the Fourteenth Century”, in Introduction to the Literature of Europe, in the Fifteenth, Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, volume I, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, paragraph 38, pages 46–47

4. excessiveinformalOf clothing or fabric: lasting a long time; very durable or hard-wearing.

   [W]ere't not for my ſmooth, ſoft, ſilken Citizen, I vvould quit this tranſitorie trade, get mee an euerlaſting robe, ſeare vp my conſcience, and turne Serieant.

   1606 (date written), [Francis Beaumont; John Fletcher], The Woman Hater. […], London: […] [Robert Raworth], and are to be sold by John Hodgets […], published 1607, →OCLC, Act IV, scene ii, signature G2, verso

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   Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe than hell: / A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him; / On vvhoſe hard heart is button'd vp vvith ſteele: / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe: / A VVolfe, nay vvorſe, a fellovv all in buffe: […]

   c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene ii], page 94, column 1

5. Chiefly in the name of a plant:
   1. excessiveinformalbiologyHaving flowers that retain their colour and form when dried.
   2. excessiveinformalbiologyOf a plant or plant part: synonym of perennial (“active throughout the year, or having a life cycle of more than two growing seasons”).

      The roote is threddy, like the roote of the ſecond kinde of Scrophularia, and is euer[-]laſting, putting forth yearely new ſprings, as alſo doth the rootes of the other two Scrophularies.

      1578, Rembert Dodoens, “Of Water Betony⸝ or Broune-wurte”, in Henry Lyte, transl., A Niewe Herball, or Historie of Plantes: […], London: […] [Henry [i.e., Hendrik van der] Loë for] Gerard Dewes, […], →OCLC, 1st part (Sundry Sortes of Herbes and Plantes), page 44

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      [T]he ſtalkes and leaues of this [Telephium sempervirum or virens] indure alſo the ſharpneſſe of vvinter, and therefore vve may call it in Engliſh Orpin euerlaſting, or neuer dying Orpin.

      1597, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], “Of the Smaller Orpins”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], London: […] Edm[und] Bollifant, for Bonham and Iohn Norton, →OCLC, book II, page 417

      Lathyrus ſylveſtris flore luteo. Tare everlaſting. This ramping vvilde Vetch or Tare as the country people call it, becauſe it is the moſt pernicious herbe that can grovv on the earth, for corne or any other good herbe that it ſhall grovv by, killing and ſtrangling them: […]

      1640, John Parkinson, “Lathyrus. The Great Wilde Cicheling or Pease Everlasting.”, in Theatrum Botanicum: The Theater of Plants. Or, An Herball of a Large Extent: […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, →OCLC, page 1062

6. USarchaicexcessiveinformalregionalUsed as an intensifier.

   "Come home now," he cried, "an' stop yet jawin', er I'll lam the everlasting head off yehs."

   1896, Stephen Crane, chapter I, in Maggie: A Girl of the Streets, New York, N.Y.: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, page 8

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   The everlastin’ cus he stuck his one-pronged pitchfork in me / An’ made a hole right thru my close ez ef I wuz an in’my.

   1848, [James Russell Lowell], “No. II. A Letter from Mr. Hosea Biglow to the Hon. J. T. Buckingham, Editor of the Boston Courier, Covering a Letter from Mr. B. Sawin, Private in the Massachusetts Regiment.”, in Homer Wilbur [pseudonym], editor, Melibœus-Hipponax. The Biglow Papers, […], Cambridge, Mass.: George Nichols, →OCLC, page 18

comparative more everlasting · superlative most everlasting

1. Synonym of everlastingly.
   1. USarchaicinformalregionalUsed as an intensifier: extremely, very.

      The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on 'em.

      1913, Joseph C[rosby] Lincoln, chapter X, in Mr. Pratt’s Patients, New York, N.Y.; London: D[aniel] Appleton and Company, →OCLC, pages 248–249

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      […] Miranda’s impression, conveyed in privacy to Jane, was that Hannah was close as the bark of a tree, and consid’able selfish too; that when she’d clim’ as fur as she could in the world, she’d kick the ladder out from under her, everlastin’ quick; […]

      1903 October, Kate Douglas Wiggin, “The Hill Difficulty”, in Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm, Boston, Mass.; New York, N.Y.: Houghton, Mifflin and Company […], →OCLC, page 246

   2. obsoleteIn an everlasting (adjective sense 1) manner; forever.

      You your ſelves in the opinion of this everlaſting talkative Advocate of the King, your accuſer, vvent more than half-vvay tovvards it; […]

      1692, John Milton, chapter X, in [Joseph Washington], transl., A Defence of the People of England, […]: In Answer to Salmasius’s Defence of the King, [London?]: [s.n.], →OCLC, page 220

plural everlastings

1. countablebiologyChiefly with a descriptive word: short for everlasting flower (“any of several plants, chiefly of the family Asteraceae (principally the tribe Gnaphalieae), having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried; also, a flower of such a plant”)

   Take then mugwort and everlasting and boil these three in several kinds of milk until they become red.

   1999, Robert Lacey, Danny Danziger, The Year 1000: What life was like at the turn of The First Millennium, London: Abacus, published 2000, page 128

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   This yellovv Euerlaſting or Floure-Gentle, called of the later Herbariſts Yellovv Strœcas, is a plant that hath ſtalkes of a ſpan long, […] The floures ſtand on the tops of the ſtalks, […] of a bright yellovv colour; vvhich being gathered before they be ripe, do keep their colour and beauty a long time vvithout vvithering, […]

   1633, John Gerarde [i.e., John Gerard], Thomas Johnson, “Of Golden Floure-gentle”, in The Herball or Generall Historie of Plantes. […], enlarged edition, London: […] Adam Islip, Joice Norton and Richard Whitakers, →OCLC, book II, page 645

   With a backward look Small said, “What a lovely lily!” / “Well enough but strong-smelling, gaudy. Come see the everlastings.”

   1942, Emily Carr, “The Orange Lily”, in The Book of Small, Toronto, Ont.: Oxford University Press, →OCLC; republished as The Book of Small (eBook; 0400201.txt), [Australia]: Project Gutenberg Australia, February 2004

   'I am rather past looking like a flower, I am afraid,' she said. 'I can't see that,' I said. 'It is true perhaps it is too late now for you to look like a rose; but you can always look like an everlasting.' I really meant it for a compliment, and to put her in a good mood; but, woman-like, she took it the wrong way.

   1974 (date written), G[erald] B[asil] Edwards, chapter 7, in The Book of Ebenezer Le Page, Mount Kisco, N.Y.: Moyer Bell, published 1981, →ISBN, page 313

2. archaiccountablePreceded by the: someone or something that lasts forever, or that that has always existed and will continue to exist forever; an eternal, an immortal; specifically (Christianity), God.

   O that this too too sallied fleſh vvould melt, / Thavv and reſolue it ſelfe into a devve, / Or that the euerlaſting had not fixt / His cannon gainſt ſeale ſlaughter, ô God, God,

   c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: […] (Second Quarto), London: […] I[ames] R[oberts] for N[icholas] L[ing] […], published 1604, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], signature C, recto

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   [T]he people of Thebais in Ægipt, reiected all the ſaid abſurdities of many Goddes, ſaying that there was none other God but only he whom they called Cnef [Kneph?], which was neuer borne, nor could euer dye, that is to ſay the Euerlaſting.

   1587, Philip of Mornay [i.e., Philippe de Mornay], “That the Wisdome of the World hath Acknowledged One Onely God”, in Philip Sidney, Arthur Golding, transl., A Woorke Concerning the Trewnesse of the Christian Religion, […], London: […] [John Charlewood and] George Robinson for Thomas Cadman, […], →OCLC, page 42

   Reverently I replaced the grave-cloths, and, with a sigh that flowers so fair should, in the purpose of the Everlasting, have only bloomed to be gathered to the grave, I turned to the body on the opposite shelf, and gently unveiled it.

   1886 October – 1887 January, H[enry] Rider Haggard, “The Tombs of Kôr”, in She: A History of Adventure, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1887, →OCLC, page 183

3. countablehistoricaluncountablefootwearbusinessSynonym of lasting (“(uncountable) a durable, plain, woven fabric formerly used for making clothes and for the uppers of women's shoes; (countable) a quantity of such fabric”).

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   There is a young man, a third-rate coxcomb, whose first care is always to flourish a white handkerchief, and brush the seat of a tight pair of black silk pantaloons, which shine as if varnished. They must have been made of the stuff called ‘everlasting,’ or perhaps of the same piece as Christian’s garments, in the Pilgrim’s Progress, for he put them on two summers ago, and has not yet worn the gloss off.

   1837 March 6, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Sunday at Home”, in Twice-Told Tales, Boston, Mass.: American Stationers Co.; John B. Russell, →OCLC, page 33

   These everlastings, which were relatively new inventions, were finely woven, close set satins or broken twills with double or treble warps and single wefts, and were often figured or brocaded, those with bold flowers being known as Amens, signifying manufacture in the fashion of Amiens. Everlastings of one kind or another were used to make gaiters, shoe tops and liveries for sergeants and catchpoles.

   1985, Eric Kerridge, “Jerseys”, in Textile Manufactures in Early Modern England, Manchester: Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 64

   Synonyms: lasting

4. abbreviationcountablehistoricalobsoleteuncountablefootwearbusinessShort for everlasting trimming (“(uncountable) an embroidered edging used on underclothes; (countable) a quantity of such edging”)