Etymograph

English

eternity

Eternity comes from Latin aeternitās, from aeternus ‘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. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternus3‘eternal’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternitās4
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eternité4
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eternyte4‘Existence without end’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1829eternity4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin aeternus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin aevum
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Latin aeternitas
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English eternity
  5. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1829, John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions: “Eternity has generally been considered as divisible into two…”.

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. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternusWiktionary, Latin aeternitas‘eternal’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaeternitāsWiktionary, English eternity
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400eternitéWiktionary, English eternity
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500eternyteWiktionary, English eternity‘Existence without end’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1829eternityWiktionary, English eternity. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1829, John Wesley, Sermons on Several Occasions: “Eternity has generally been considered as divisible into two…”

Linked words

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

14 more

through Proto-Italic *aiwom ‘period, age’

age, 11 more

through Latin aevum ‘eternity, agelessness, timelessness’

longevity, 9 more

Today it means

noun Existence without end, infinite time.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “eternity”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin aeternus, Latin aevum, Latin aeternitas. 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- / eternity

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