From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisheternale‧ter‧nal /ɪˈtɜːnəl $ -ɜːr-/ ●●○ adjective 1 ALWAYS/FOREVERcontinuing for ever and having no end the Christian promise of eternal life She’s an eternal optimist (=she always expects that good things will happen).► see thesaurus at permanent2 LONG TIMEseeming to continue for ever, especially because of being boring or annoying SYN never-ending the eternal arguments between mother and son3 → eternal truths
Examples from the Corpus
eternal• Their sharp, shuddery relevance to our own eternal conflicts shows clear.• Night after night, Manson was aware of his eternal hunger.• Church members express a belief in eternal life after death.• The possibility of eternal life is a principle belief of many religions.• They could only have believed that tanks had eternal lives.• The eternal quest for immortality will be in vain until we know the answer - unfortunately, we don't.• Even eternal salvation has become something sold in the marketplace.• Many of these leave a very big question mark as to their eternal significance.• The conflict between mind and machine might be resolved at last in the eternal truce of complete symbiosis...• Yet, surely, the eternal verities of any game still apply.• Making the right choices, like protecting freedom, demands eternal vigilance.• people searching for eternal youth• the search for eternal youthOrigin eternal (1300-1400) Old French Latin aeternus “eternal” 