immemorial

I1M3M3E1M3O1R1I1A1L1
/ɪ.məˈmɔːɹi.əl/

adjective

That is beyond memory; ancient.

“The rocks had stood overlooking the valley since time immemorial.”

Similar

Meanings

adjectiveimmemorial (not comparable)
  1. not comparablepostpositionalsometimesThat is beyond memory; ancient.

    The rocks had stood overlooking the valley since time immemorial.

    4 more examples

    We will ride this morning to what we call the grove of Daphne. It is a real laurel grove. Some of the trees must be immemorial, and deserve to have been sacred, if once they were not so.

    1870, B[enjamin] Disraeli, chapter XIV, in Lothair. […], volume III, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., →OCLC, page 148

    ...the fact of the immemorial taking of the toll, though it would be rightful in its origin if the spot was in a port, and wrongful if it was not in a port, did not of itself afford sufficient ground for inferring that the spot was an antient port, or that such special services were rendered, either by express stipulation in some lost grant, or by immemorial usage, as would support such a grant or custom.

    1868, James Redfoord Bulwer, editor, The Law Reports. Court of Common Pleas., volume 3

    Now, I still think that for this box of matches to have escaped the wear of time for immemorial years was a strange, and for me, a most fortunate thing.

    1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC

    Were it not that the fields are vast in extent, those proclaiming themselves part of State Farm’s, the scene might be immemorial.

    2012, Theodore Dalrymple, The Wilder Shores of Marx: Journeys in a Vanishing World

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivelong past; beyond the limits of memory or tradition or recorded history

Similar

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Frenchimmémorial
  2. Englishimmemorial

From French immémorial. By surface analysis, im- + memorial.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian незапомнен, древен
  • незапомнен (nezapomnen)that is beyond memory; ancient
  • древен (dreven)that is beyond memory; ancient
Catalan immemorial
  • immemorialthat is beyond memory; ancient
Esperanto nememorebla
  • nememoreblathat is beyond memory; ancient
Finnish muinainen
  • muinainenthat is beyond memory; ancient
French immémorial
  • immémorialthat is beyond memory; ancient
Norwegian Bokmål uminnelig
  • uminneligthat is beyond memory; ancient
Russian да́вний, незапамятный
  • да́вний (dávnij)that is beyond memory; ancient
  • незапамятный (nezapamjatnyj)that is beyond memory; ancient
  • дре́вний (drévnij)that is beyond memory; ancient
  • ста́рый (stáryj)that is beyond memory; ancient
Spanish inmemorial
  • inmemorialthat is beyond memory; ancient
Swedish uråldrig, urminnes
  • uråldrigthat is beyond memory; ancient
  • urminnesthat is beyond memory; ancient
Vietnamese xa xưa, thượng cổ
  • xa xưathat is beyond memory; ancient
  • thượng cổthat is beyond memory; ancient

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with immemorial

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

immemorial. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immemorial

MLA

“immemorial.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immemorial. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “immemorial,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/immemorial.

Source: immemorial on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.