everlasting, a. and n.
(ɛvəˈlɑːstɪŋ, -ˈlæst-)
[f. ever adv. + lasting.]
A. adj.
1. a. Lasting for ever; infinite in future duration; endless; = eternal A. 3.
| 1340 Ayenb. 189 Guoþ ye acorsede in-to þe greate uere eurelestinde ine helle. 1509 Paternoster, Ave, & Creed A iij, I trowe in y⊇..forgyuenes of synnes agen rysynge of flesshe, and euerlastynge lyf. 1552 Lyndesay Monarche iv. 5145 Thay depart from cair and cummer..Tyll Ioy and euirlestand lyfe. 1605 Shakes. Macb. ii. iii. 22 Some..that goe the Primrose way to th' euerlasting Bonfire. a 1668 Denham (J.), What a trifle is a moment's breath, Laid in the scale with everlasting death! 1758 S. Hayward Serm. i. 2 We are in danger of falling into everlasting misery. 1781 Cowper Truth 41 Too busy..to wait On the sad theme, their everlasting state. 1837 Carlyle Sart. Res. ii. ix, Love not pleasure; love God. This is the Everlasting Yea. 1838 Lytton Leila i. v, I would all the gold of earth were sunk into the everlasting pit. |
b. Extended to the full sense of the L. æternus, so as to imply past as well as future eternity; = eternal A. 1. (In the examples following this sense is merely contextual; but cf. from everlasting in B. 1.)
| 1382 Wyclif Gen. xxi. 33 Abraham..inwardli clepide..the name of euerlastynge God. 1535 Coverdale ibid., And Abraham..called vpon the name of the Lorde y⊇ euerlastinge God. 1578 Gude & Godlie Ball. (1868) 127 Thow onlie Maker of all thing, Thou euerlastand licht. 1611 Bible Isa. ix. 6 The mightie God, The euerlasting Father. |
2. a. Used hyperbolically or in relative sense. Cf. eternal 4.
| 1382 Wyclif Ezek. xxxv. 9, I shall bytake thee into wildernessis euerlastynge [solitudines sempiternas]. c 1400 Destr. Troy 9569 Ye worship might haue, With a lose euer⁓lastond, when your lyff endis. c 1460 Fortescue Abs. & Lim. Mon. (1714) 84 To make their Rewards, everlasting in ther Heyrs. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1019 To..Henry..kyng..of all Englande..be laude everlastyng, honour without ende. 1628 Hobbes Thucyd. (1822) 13 It [this history] is compiled rather for an everlasting possession than to be rehearsed for a prize. 1734 Pope Ess. Man iv. 284 See Cromwell, damn'd to everlasting fame! 1832 Lytton Eugene A. i. x, The rivulet..descends from the everlasting mountains. 1839 De Quincey Recoll. Lakes Wks. 1862 II. 217 These mighty gates of everlasting rock. 1873 Slang Dict. s.v., The barefooted children about Seven Dials..are said to wear everlasting shoes and stockings. Everlasting staircase, the treadmill. 1882 M. E. Braddon Mt. Royal I. iii. 79 It is the most everlasting kind of beauty, is it not? |
b. Constant, perpetual, unceasing. Often implying weariness or disgust: Interminable, endlessly recurring; = eternal A. 4 b.
| 1688 S. Penton Guardian's Instruct. 28 What..were the Occasions of the present great Contempt of Matrimony..The everlasting Din of Mother-in-law. 1716 Lady M. W. Montague Lett. I. vi. 19 The foundation of these everlasting disputes turns entirely upon rank. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 269 It is never dark here, you are now come to the country of everlasting day. 1801 Southey Thalaba v. xxii, From Ait's bitumen-lakes..ascends That everlasting roar. 1833 H. Martineau Brooke Farm vii. 87 There was an everlasting boiling, of the kettle in the morning, the potatoes for dinner, and the kettle again in the afternoon. 1837 Lytton E. Maltrav. 4 On which there hung an everlasting frown. 1838–9 Hallam Hist. Lit. I. i. i. §38. 35 The tedious descriptions of spring, and the everlasting nightingale. |
3. Indefinitely durable, that will ‘never’ wear out (see B. 3). everlasting trimming: an embroidered edging for underclothing.
| 1590–1607 [see B. 3]. 1882 Daily News 4 Mar., The demand is fully maintained for everlasting trimmings. Mod. I can recommend this material; it's everlasting wear. |
4. In various plant-names: a. Retaining shape and colour when dried; as in everlasting flower, a name given to some species of cudweed (Gnaphalium), but more commonly to various species of Helichrysum; cf. Fr. immortelle; † everlasting life: ‘American Cudweed’ (Antennaria margaritacea). b. Perennial; as in everlasting pea (Lathyrus latifolius and other species), † everlasting grass (Onobrychis sativa, sainfoin).
| 1677 Plot Oxfordsh. 154 Commonly called Sainctfoin or Everlasting grass. 1705 Tate tr. Cowley's Hist. Plants (J.), Witness the everlasting-pease and scarlet bean. 1772–84 Cook Voy. (1790) II. 391 The everlasting-flower..when it is plucked it cannot be perceived to fade. 1783 Ainsworth Lat. Dict. (Morell) i. s.v., Life everlasting, Gnaphalium Americanum. 1861 S. Thomson Wild Fl. iii. (ed. 4) 200 The yellow meadow vetchling, or everlasting pea. 1877 M. Arnold Poems, Heine's Grave, Crisp everlasting-flowers, Yellow and black, on the graves. 1882 Garden 25 Mar. 202/2 The Everlasting Flowers..are all beautiful border plants. |
5. quasi-adv. = everlastingly 2 and 4. † a. For ever, throughout eternity (obs.). b. U.S. slang. Very, exceedingly, excessively.
| 1482 Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 67 Some of hem contynued in euyll..and now they be euerlasting dampde. 1692 Washington tr. Milton's Def. Pop. x. (1851) 228 This everlasting talkative Advocate of the King. ? 18.. ‘Major J. Downing’ May Day in N. York (in Bartlett Dict. Amer.), New York is an everlasting great concern. 1832 S. Smith Major Downing 95, I had rather fight forty New Orleans battles than to govern this everlasting great country one year. 1848 Lowell Lett. I. 136 It's everlasting hot to-day. 1903 K. D. Wiggin Rebecca 262 She'd kick the ladder from out under her, everlastin' quick. |
B. absol. (quasi-n.) and n.
1. absol. a. In phrases for everlasting: for all future time, in perpetuity. to everlasting: to all eternity. b. Subsequently with extension as in A. 1 b: from everlasting: from all eternity.
| c 1340 Cursor M. 4188 (Fairf.) Þai wille him lede in-to fer lande to be þair bonde for euer-lastande. 1535 Coverdale Ps. xcii [xciii]. 2 From that tyme forth hath thy seate bene prepared, thou art from euerlastinge. a 1600 Hooker (J.), We are in God through..the love which is born towards us, from everlasting. 1611 Bible Ps. xc. 2 Euen from euerlasting to euerlasting thou art God. 1715 De Foe Fam. Instruct. i. i. (1841) I. 19 You will learn that God is from the beginning, and to the end, from everlasting to everlasting. 1719 Watts Ps. xc., From everlasting thou art God To endless years the same. 1828 K. Digby Broadst. Hon. (1846) II. Tancredus 6 It [chivalry] is now enlisted in the cause of truth and goodness..to reign for everlasting. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets x. 317 Love and beauty have belonged to men from everlasting. |
2. the Everlasting: God, the Eternal.
| 1382 Wyclif Prov. viii. 23 Of the euere lastende [? mistranslation of ab æterno] I am ordeyned..er the erthe shulde be maad [1388 Fro with out bigynnyng; 1611 from everlasting]. 1602 Shakes. Ham. i. ii. 131 Oh..that the Euerlasting had not fix't His Cannon 'gainst selfe-slaughter. |
3. n. a. A material used in 16–17th c. for the dress of sergeants and catchpoles, app. identical with durance. b. In later times, a strong twilled woollen stuff, called also lasting: see quots.
The word in quots. 1590 and 1607 may possibly be adj.; the former app. identifies the material of the ‘everlasting garment’ with buff, but it is not clear whether this means buff leather or some woollen substitute for it.
| 1590 Shakes. Com. Err. iv. ii. 33 Adr. Where is thy Master Dromio? S. Dro. A diuell in an euerlasting garment hath him..a fellow all in buffe. 1607 Fletcher Woman-Hater iv. ii, Were't not for my smooth, soft, silken citizen, I would quit this transitory trade, get me an everlasting robe, sear up my conscience, and turn sergeant. 1738 J. Munn Observ. Brit. Wool & Manuf. 5 Damasks, Russets, Everlasting, Cantiloons, Worsted Plush..with many other sorts of Plain and Figur'd Stuffs. 1754 South Carolina Gaz. 1 Jan. 4/2 Check mantuas and Irish stuffs, everlastings, bombazine. 1763 Essex Inst. Hist. Coll. XLIX. 142 Had on..either a pair of black Ever⁓lasting Breeches, or cloth colour'd Leather ones. 1822–35 D. Booth Analyt. Eng. Dict. I. 184 Lasting, or everlasting, is a stout closely-woven worsted stuff, dyed black and other colours, and very much used for ladies' shoes. 1837 Hawthorne Twice-told T. (1851) I. ii. 32 They [pantaloons] must have been made of the stuff called ‘everlasting’. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Jerry Jarvis' Wig, A well-worn..jacket, of a stuff by drapers most pseudonymously termed ‘everlasting’. |
4. = everlasting flower. See A. 4.
| 1794 Martyn Rousseau's Bot. xxvi. 387 There are several species both of yellow and white Everlastings. 1864 Gilbert & Churchill Excurs. Dolomite Mts. 350 His hat was ornamented with yellow everlastings. 1871 Ramsay Remin. (ed. 18) 17 Wreaths of ‘everlasting’ placed over graves as emblems of immortality. |