aeternus
Latin
Alternative forms
- ēternus (Medieval Latin, Merovingian)
Etymology
For older aeviternus, from aevum, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eyu- (“long time, lifetime”). Morphologically (but not semantically) equivalent to aetās + -rnus.
Pronunciation
- (Classical Latin) IPA(key): [ae̯ˈtɛr.nʊs]
- (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA(key): [eˈt̪ɛr.nus]
Adjective
aeternus (feminine aeterna, neuter aeternum, adverb aeternō); first/second-declension adjective
- abiding, lasting, permanent, perpetual
- Synonyms: perennis, assiduus, continuātus, perpetuus, diuturnus
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Hercules Furens:
- Non prata viridi laeta facie germinant,/nec adulta leni fluctuat Zephyro seges;/non ulla ramos silva pomiferos habet;/sterilis profundi vastitas squalet soli/et foeda tellus torpet aeterno situ— rerumque maestus finis et mundi ultima.
- "No meadows bud, joyous with verdant, / mature waves in the gentle west wind, nor crop; / there is no grove of fruit bearing branches to regard; / barren: and the abysmal fields lie all untilled, / and the foul land lies torpid in abiding sufferance- sad end of things, and the world 's last."
- Non prata viridi laeta facie germinant,/nec adulta leni fluctuat Zephyro seges;/non ulla ramos silva pomiferos habet;/sterilis profundi vastitas squalet soli/et foeda tellus torpet aeterno situ— rerumque maestus finis et mundi ultima.
- endless, eternal
- immortal
- Synonym: immortālis
Declension
First/second-declension adjective.
| singular | plural | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| masculine | feminine | neuter | masculine | feminine | neuter | ||
| nominative | aeternus | aeterna | aeternum | aeternī | aeternae | aeterna | |
| genitive | aeternī | aeternae | aeternī | aeternōrum | aeternārum | aeternōrum | |
| dative | aeternō | aeternae | aeternō | aeternīs | |||
| accusative | aeternum | aeternam | aeternum | aeternōs | aeternās | aeterna | |
| ablative | aeternō | aeternā | aeternō | aeternīs | |||
| vocative | aeterne | aeterna | aeternum | aeternī | aeternae | aeterna | |
Derived terms
Related terms
Descendants
- Catalan: etern
- English: eterne, puella aeterna, puer aeternus
- Esperanto: eterna
- Galician: eterno
- Ido: eterna
- Italian: eterno
- Occitan: etèrn
- Piedmontese: etern
- Portuguese: eterno
- Romanian: etern
- Spanish: eterno, puer aeternus
Further reading
- “aeternus”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- “aeternus”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
- aeternus in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.