What does eternity mean?
Eternity refers to infinite or unending time — existence regarded as without beginning or end. In religious and philosophical thought it often denotes the timeless realm of God, the soul, or the afterlife, where events do not unfold in sequence but exist perpetually. Beyond this solemn sense, 'eternity' is widely used in everyday speech as vivid hyperbole: a tedious meeting, a slow queue, or a delayed train can each feel like an eternity. The word carries connotations of vastness, permanence, and awe in formal contexts, while its colloquial use is playful exaggeration. Common phrases such as 'for all eternity' or 'an eternity ago' show how flexibly it moves between the cosmic and the mundane. Derived from Latin through Old French, it shares its root with 'eternal', making it part of a small family of words English uses to grapple with the idea of endlessness. It remains one of the language's most evocative terms for the limits — or absence — of time.
nounInfinite or unending time; time without beginning or end. Also used figuratively to describe a very long period that feels endless.
- Infinite or unending time, especially as regarded as a continuous whole or timeless existence
- A seemingly endless or extremely long period of time (figurative/hyperbolic use)
"The wait for the results felt like an eternity."
"Many religions imagine the soul as destined for eternity after death."
"Stuck in traffic, the ten-minute delay felt like an eternity."
Rare and usually figurative; used when contrasting multiple seemingly endless periods.
"Between those two appointments stretched what felt like separate eternities."
The word 'eternity' comes from a Latin root meaning 'age' — ancient Romans thought of forever as just one very long lifetime of the world.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eternity
Eternity derives from the Latin 'aeternitas', formed from 'aeternus' meaning everlasting, which itself traces back to 'aevum' (age, lifetime) and ultimately the Proto-Indo-European root *aiw- relating to vital force or age. The word entered Middle English via Old French 'eternite' around the late medieval period. Its cognates include 'eternal', 'ever' (via Germanic from the same Indo-European root), and 'age'.
Related word forms
How eternity is actually used
The literal sense (endless time) is common in religious, philosophical, and poetic contexts and carries a solemn register. The figurative sense — any long wait or duration described hyperbolically — is frequent and informal in everyday speech ('took an eternity'). The phrase 'for all eternity' is a fixed, emphatic expression.
Easily confused with eternity
'Eternity' is the noun referring to endless time itself, while 'eternal' is the adjective describing something that lasts forever.