Adjacent Words

Perpetual definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PERPET'UAL, a. [L. perpetuus, from perpes, perpetis; per and pes, from a root signifying to pass.]
1. Never ceasing; continuing forever in future time; destined to be eternal; as a perpetual covenant; a perpetual statute.
[Literally true with respect to the decrees of the Supreme Being.]
2. Continuing or continued without intermission; uninterrupted; as a perpetual stream; the perpetual action of the heart and arteries.
3. Permanent; fixed; not temporary; as a perpetual law or edict; perpetual love or amity, perpetual incense. Exodus 30.
4. Everlasting; endless.
Destructions are come to a perpetual end. Psalms 9.
5. During the legal dispensation. Exodus 29.
Perpetual curacy, is where all the tithes are appropriated and no vicarage is endowed.
Perpetual motion, motion that generates a power of continuing itself forever or indefinitely, by means of mechanism or some application of the force of gravity; not yet discovered,and probably impossible.
Perpetual screw, a screw that acts against the teeth of a wheel and continues its action without end.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: continuing forever or indefinitely; "the ageless themes of love and revenge"; "eternal truths"; "life everlasting"; "hell's perpetual fires"; "the unending bliss of heaven" [syn: ageless, aeonian, eonian, eternal, everlasting, perpetual, unending, unceasing]
2: uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing; "the ceaseless thunder of surf"; "in constant pain"; "night and day we live with the incessant noise of the city"; "the never-ending search for happiness"; "the perpetual struggle to maintain standards in a democracy"; "man's unceasing warfare with drought and isolation"; "unremitting demands of hunger" [syn: ceaseless, constant, incessant, never- ending, perpetual, unceasing, unremitting]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Middle English perpetuel, from Anglo-French, from Latin perpetuus uninterrupted, from per- through + petere to go to — more at feather Date: 14th century 1. a. continuing forever ; everlasting <perpetual motion> b. (1) valid for all time <a perpetual right> (2) holding (as an office) for life or for an unlimited time 2. occurring continually ; indefinitely long-continued <perpetual problems> 3. blooming continuously throughout the season Synonyms: see continual • perpetually adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 eternal; lasting for ever or indefinitely. 2 continuous, uninterrupted. 3 colloq. frequent, much repeated (perpetual interruptions). 4 permanent during life (perpetual secretary). Phrases and idioms: perpetual calendar a calendar which can be adjusted to show any combination of day, month, and year. perpetual check Chess the position of play when a draw is obtained by repeated checking of the king. perpetual motion the motion of a hypothetical machine which once set in motion would run for ever unless subject to an external force or to wear. Derivatives: perpetualism n. perpetually adv. Etymology: ME f. OF perpetuel f. L perpetualis f. perpetuus f. perpes -etis continuous

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Perpetual Per*pet"u*al, a. [OE. perpetuel, F. perp['e]tuel, fr. L. perpetualis, fr. perpetuus continuing throughout, continuous, fr. perpes, -etis, lasting throughout.] Neverceasing; continuing forever or for an unlimited time; unfailing; everlasting; continuous. Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. --Shak. Perpetual feast of nectared sweets. --Milton. Circle of perpetual apparition, or occultation. See under Circle. Perpetual calendar, a calendar so devised that it may be adjusted for any month or year. Perpetual curacy (Ch. of Eng.), a curacy in which all the tithes are appropriated, and no vicarage is endowed. --Blackstone. Perpetual motion. See under Motion. Perpetual screw. See Endless screw, under Screw. Syn: Continual; unceasing; endless; everlasting; incessant; constant; eternal. See Constant.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Tax Tax, n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch, sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task, Taste.] 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority. Specifically: (a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government. A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. --Macaulay. (b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like. Note: Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or indirect, etc. (c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses. 2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject. 3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health. 4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] --Clarendon. 5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] --Johnson. Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.] Syn: Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. A perpetual feeling, state, or quality is one that never ends or changes. ...the creation of a perpetual union. = permanent ADJ: usu ADJ n • perpetually They were all perpetually starving... = permanently ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj/prep 2. A perpetual act, situation, or state is one that happens again and again and so seems never to end. I thought her perpetual complaints were going to prove too much for me. = continual ADJ: usu ADJ n • perpetually He perpetually interferes in political affairs. = continually ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj/prep

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Endless, unending, everlasting, eternal, ever-during, ceaseless, unceasing, continual, incessant, unintermitted, uninterrupted, constant, interminable, perennial, never-ceasing, never-failing, unfailing, enduring, permanent, sempiternal.

Moby Thesaurus

abiding, age-long, aged, ageless, all-comprehensive, all-inclusive, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, ancient, antique, boundless, ceaseless, changeless, chattering, chronic, coeternal, constant, continual, continuing, continuous, countless, creating, creative, dateless, diuturnal, durable, endless, enduring, eternal, eternally the same, eterne, ever-being, ever-durable, ever-during, evergreen, everlasting, everliving, exhaustless, extending everywhere, firm, fixed, frozen, glorious, good, hallowed, hardy, highest, holy, illimitable, illimited, immeasurable, immemorial, immense, immobile, immortal, immutable, incalculable, incessant, incomprehensible, indestructible, inexhaustible, infinite, infinitely continuous, innumerable, intact, interminable, interminate, intransient, invariable, inveterate, inviolate, just, lasting, limitless, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, loving, luminous, machine gun, macrobiotic, majestic, making, measureless, merciful, never-ceasing, never-ending, no end of, nonstop, nonterminating, nonterminous, numinous, of long duration, of long standing, olamic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, oscillating, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, persistent, persisting, pulsating, quiescent, radiant, rapid, recurrent, regular, remaining, repeated, repetitive, rigid, sacred, sempervirent, sempiternal, shaping, shoreless, solid, sovereign, stable, staccato, static, stationary, staying, steadfast, steady, stuttering, sumless, supreme, sustained, termless, timeless, torpid, tough, ubiquitous, unaltered, unbounded, unbroken, unceasing, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unchecked, uncircumscribed, undefined, undestroyed, undeviating, unending, unfading, unfailing, unfathomable, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, universal, unlimited, unmeasurable, unmeasured, unnumbered, unplumbed, unremitting, unshifting, unstopped, untold, unvaried, unvarying, vibrating, vital, without bound, without end, without limit, without measure, without number