perpetual
nounEtymology From Middle English perpetuel, from Old French perpetuel, from Latin perpetuālis (“universal”), from perpetuus, from petō.
1
Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of perpetual check.
perpetual
adjUS /pɚˈpɛt͡ʃuəl/ · UK /pəˈpɛtʃʊəl/
Etymology From Middle English perpetuel, from Old French perpetuel, from Latin perpetuālis (“universal”), from perpetuus, from petō.
1
Lasting forever, or for an indefinitely long time.
2
Set up to be in effect or have tenure for an unlimited duration.
- perpetual copyright
3
Continuing; uninterrupted.
- "And yet," returned Francesca, "the secret of Arden's sufferings seems to have been in himself. From earliest youth he indulged in vain contrasts and repinings, and even his very love was selfish and cruel. Think how much happiness he lost by his perpetual exaggerations!"1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XXVIII, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume II, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 297:
- There are perpetual requests for changes as new payloads and new demands and modifications are suggested by the users.1986 June 6, Richard Feynman, “Personal observations on the reliability of the Shuttle”, in Presidential Commission on the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident, Report to the President:
- By means of artificial hybridization, practised for a series of years, he has succeeded in producing a race of carnations which are perpetual bloomers.
- The hybrid perpetual roses as a rule require to be pruned to within 4 to 6 inches of the ground.
- Derived terms
- a contented mind is a perpetual feast, hybrid perpetual, nonperpetual, perpetual beta, perpetual bond, perpetual canon, perpetual curate, perpetual futures, perpetual inventory, perpetualism, perpetualist, perpetuality, perpetual license, perpetually, perpetual motion, perpetual motion machine, perpetual motion machine of the first kind, perpetual motion machine of the second kind, perpetualness, perpetual pill, perpetual revolution, perpetual stew, semiperpetual, unperpetual
- Related terms
- perpetuate