Etymograph

English

eterne

Eterne comes from Old French eterne, from Latin aeternus ‘endless, eternal’, 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*aiwom2‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevum1‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternus3‘endless, eternal’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eterne3
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eterne3‘Eternal, permanent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590eterne3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aeternus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin aevum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English eterne
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VI: “The substance is eterne, and bideth so; / Ne…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂eyu-Wiktionary, Latin aeternus‘long time, lifetime’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*aiwomWiktionary, Latin aevum‘period, age’reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaevumWiktionary, Latin aeternus‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’
  4. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternusWiktionary, English eterne‘endless, eternal’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eterneWiktionary, English eterne
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eterneWiktionary, English eterne‘Eternal, permanent’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590eterneWiktionary, English eterne. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book III, Canto VI: “The substance is eterne, and bideth so; / Ne…”

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 ‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’

longevity, eval, 8 more

Today it means

adj Eternal.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eterne”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin aeternus, 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- / eterne

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