everlasting

adj

1. Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.

   “And vvhether vve ſhall meete againe, I knovv not: / Therefore our euerlaſting farevvell take: / For euer, and for euer, farevvell, Caſſius, / If vve do meete againe, vvhy vve ſhall ſmile; / If not, vvhy then this parting vvas vvell made.”

   “And I will giue vnto thee, and to thy ſeed after thee, the land wherein thou art a ſtranger, all the land of Canaan, for an euerlaſting poſſeſſion, and I will be their God.”

   “VVhy, in Heaven I ſhall have an everlaſting Holyday of Pleaſure.”

   “And vvhat a trifle is a moments Breath, / Laid in the Scale vvith everlaſting Death?”

   “I muſt venture: To go back is nothing but death, to go forvvard is fear of death, and life everlaſting beyond it. I vvill yet go forvvard.”

2. Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.

   “And Abraham planted trees at Berſeba, and called vpon the name of the LORDE yͤ euerlaſting God, and was a ſtraunger in yͤ londe of the Philiſtynes a longe ſeaſon.”

   “For vnto vs a child [Jesus] is borne, vnto vs a Sonne is giuen, and the gouernment ſhalbe vpon his ſhoulder: and his name ſhalbe called, Wonderfull, Counſeller, The mightie God, The euerlaſting Father, The Prince of peace.”

   “All of them, the good supernatural beings, they call also 'altgiva,' [apparently an early rendering of "altjira"] as well as the firmament, with the sun, moon, and stars; also the earth, and any things specially remarkable. The word 'altgiva' signifies that these had an everlasting existence.”

3. Lasting or enduring forever; endless, eternal.
4. (excessive, informal)Continuing for a long period; eternal.

   “this everlasting nonsense”

   “And it [this History] is compiled rather for an Everlasting Possession, then to be rehearſed for a Prize.”

   “[T]hink hovv [Francis] Bacon ſhin'd, / The vviſeſt, brighteſt, meaneſt of Mankind: / Or raviſh'd vvith the vvhiſtling of a Name, / See [Oliver] Cromvvell, damn'd to everlaſting Fame!”

   “[S]he mark'd thee there, / Stretch'd on the rack of a too-eaſy Chair; / And heard thy everlaſting yavvn confeſs / The Pains and penalties of Idleneſs.”

   “[T]he rivulet that swells it [a river], descends from the everlasting mountains, or is formed by the rains of Heaven.”

5. (excessive, informal)Happening all the time, especially to a tiresome extent; constant, incessant, unending.

   “It is never dark here, you are novv come to the Country of Everlaſting Day; VVhat think you? Is not this Eliſium?”

   “I'll diſpatch Them as ſoon as I can, but Heaven knovvs vvhen I ſhall get rid of Them, for They are both everlaſting Goſſips; […]”

   “There from a cave with torrent force, / And everlasting roar, / The black bitumen rolled.”

   “His countenance was prematurely marked by deep furrows, and his grizzled hair waved over a low, rugged, and forbidding brow, on which there hung an everlasting frown that no smile from the lips (and the man smiled often) could chase away.”

   “The French poetry, on the other hand, was deficient in strength and ardour. It was also too much filled with monotonous common-places; among which the tedious descriptions of spring, and the everlasting nightingale, are eminently to be reckoned.”

6. (excessive, informal)Of clothing or fabric: lasting a long time; very durable or hard-wearing.

   “Adr[iana]. VVhere is thy Maſter Dromio? Is he vvell? / S. Dro. [Dromio of Syracuse] No, he's in Tartar limbo, vvorſe than hell: / A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him; / On vvhoſe hard heart is button'd vp vvith ſteele: / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe: / A VVolfe, nay vvorſe, a fellovv all in buffe: […]”

   “[W]ere't not for my ſmooth, ſoft, ſilken Citizen, I vvould quit this tranſitorie trade, get mee an euerlaſting robe, ſeare vp my conſcience, and turne Serieant.”

7. (excessive, informal)Chiefly in the name of a plant:
8. (excessive, informal)Chiefly in the name of a plant:

   “The roote is threddy, like the roote of the ſecond kinde of Scrophularia, and is euer[-]laſting, putting forth yearely new ſprings, as alſo doth the rootes of the other two Scrophularies.”

   “[T]he ſtalkes and leaues of this [Telephium sempervirum or virens] indure alſo the ſharpneſſe of vvinter, and therefore vve may call it in Engliſh Orpin euerlaſting, or neuer dying Orpin.”

   “Lathyrus ſylveſtris flore luteo. Tare everlaſting. This ramping vvilde Vetch or Tare as the country people call it, becauſe it is the moſt pernicious herbe that can grovv on the earth, for corne or any other good herbe that it ſhall grovv by, killing and ſtrangling them: […]”

9. (US, archaic, excessive, informal, regional)Used as an intensifier.

   “The everlastin’ cus he stuck his one-pronged pitchfork in me / An’ made a hole right thru my close ez ef I wuz an in’my.”

   “"Come home now," he cried, "an' stop yet jawin', er I'll lam the everlasting head off yehs."”

adv

1. (US, archaic, informal, regional)Synonym of everlastingly.

   “[…] Miranda’s impression, conveyed in privacy to Jane, was that Hannah was close as the bark of a tree, and consid’able selfish too; that when she’d clim’ as fur as she could in the world, she’d kick the ladder out from under her, everlastin’ quick; […]”

   “The Jones man was looking at her hard. Now he reached into the hatch of his vest and fetched out a couple of cigars, everlasting big ones, with gilt bands on 'em.”

2. (obsolete)Synonym of everlastingly.

   “You your ſelves in the opinion of this everlaſting talkative Advocate of the King, your accuſer, vvent more than half-vvay tovvards it; […]”

noun

1. (countable)Chiefly with a descriptive word: short for everlasting flower (“any of several plants, chiefly of the family Asteraceae (principally the tribe Gnaphalieae), having flowers that retain their colour and form when dried; also, a flower of such a plant”)

   “This yellovv Euerlaſting or Floure-Gentle, called of the later Herbariſts Yellovv Strœcas, is a plant that hath ſtalkes of a ſpan long, […] The floures ſtand on the tops of the ſtalks, […] of a bright yellovv colour; vvhich being gathered before they be ripe, do keep their colour and beauty a long time vvithout vvithering, […]”

   “With a backward look Small said, “What a lovely lily!” / “Well enough but strong-smelling, gaudy. Come see the everlastings.””

   “'I am rather past looking like a flower, I am afraid,' she said. 'I can't see that,' I said. 'It is true perhaps it is too late now for you to look like a rose; but you can always look like an everlasting.' I really meant it for a compliment, and to put her in a good mood; but, woman-like, she took it the wrong way.”

   “Take then mugwort and everlasting and boil these three in several kinds of milk until they become red.”

2. (archaic, countable)Preceded by the: someone or something that lasts forever, or that that has always existed and will continue to exist forever; an eternal, an immortal; specifically (Christianity), God.

   “[T]he people of Thebais in Ægipt, reiected all the ſaid abſurdities of many Goddes, ſaying that there was none other God but only he whom they called Cnef [Kneph?], which was neuer borne, nor could euer dye, that is to ſay the Euerlaſting.”

   “O that this too too sallied fleſh vvould melt, / Thavv and reſolue it ſelfe into a devve, / Or that the euerlaſting had not fixt / His cannon gainſt ſeale ſlaughter, ô God, God,”

   “Reverently I replaced the grave-cloths, and, with a sigh that flowers so fair should, in the purpose of the Everlasting, have only bloomed to be gathered to the grave, I turned to the body on the opposite shelf, and gently unveiled it.”

3. (countable, historical, uncountable)Synonym of lasting (“(uncountable) a durable, plain, woven fabric formerly used for making clothes and for the uppers of women's shoes; (countable) a quantity of such fabric”).

   “There is a young man, a third-rate coxcomb, whose first care is always to flourish a white handkerchief, and brush the seat of a tight pair of black silk pantaloons, which shine as if varnished. They must have been made of the stuff called ‘everlasting,’ or perhaps of the same piece as Christian’s garments, in the Pilgrim’s Progress, for he put them on two summers ago, and has not yet worn the gloss off.”

   “These everlastings, which were relatively new inventions, were finely woven, close set satins or broken twills with double or treble warps and single wefts, and were often figured or brocaded, those with bold flowers being known as Amens, signifying manufacture in the fashion of Amiens. Everlastings of one kind or another were used to make gaiters, shoe tops and liveries for sergeants and catchpoles.”

4. (abbreviation, alt-of, countable, historical, obsolete, uncountable)Short for everlasting trimming (“(uncountable) an embroidered edging used on underclothes; (countable) a quantity of such edging”)