Etymograph

English

eternal

Eternal comes from Late Latin aeternālis ‘eternal, everlasting, temporally infinite’, from Latin aevum ‘age’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- ‘long time, lifetime’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyu-1‘long time, lifetime’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwom1‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevum2‘age’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternus2
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaeternālis2‘eternal, everlasting, temporally infinite’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eternal2
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eternal2‘Eternal, permanent’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1690eternal2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aevum
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English eternal
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1690, John Locke: “But here again it is another question, quite different…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyu-Wiktionary, Latin aevum‘long time, lifetime’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwomWiktionary, Latin aevum‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevumWiktionary, English eternal‘age’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternusWiktionary, English eternal
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEaeternālisWiktionary, English eternal‘eternal, everlasting, temporally infinite’
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eternalWiktionary, English eternal
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eternalWiktionary, English eternal‘Eternal, permanent’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1690eternalWiktionary, English eternal. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1690, John Locke: “But here again it is another question, quite different…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- ‘long time, lifetime’

aye, ay, eon, aeon, 10 more

through Proto-Italic *aiwom ‘period, age’

age, 11 more

through Latin aevum ‘age’

longevity, eval, 8 more

Today it means

adj Lasting forever; unending.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eternal”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin aevum. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- / eternal

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