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Everlasting vs Endless vs Interminable vs Unceasing

Everlastingendlessinterminableunceasing are comparable when they mean continuing on and on without end.

Unlike infinite, eternal, and similar words (see INFINITE ), these terms do not presuppose the absence of a beginning and therefore usually have reference only to continued extent or duration. However, everlasting is often used interchangeably with eternal, differing from it only in placing more stress on the fact of enduring throughout time than on the quality of being independent of time or of all similar human limitations.

Therefore, in serious use, everlasting, rather than eternal, is applied to material things or earthly conditions which endure, or seem to endure, forever.

In lighter use the word is little more than a hyperbolic term expressing loss of patience or extreme boredom and more often applying to recurrence than to duration or extent.

Endless is applicable not only to things which continue in time but also in extent; the word is used especially when a circular form or construction is implied or it may imply no known or apparent or determinable end.

Interminable is somewhat uncommon in its sense of having no end or incapable of being brought to an end or termination. More often it applies to something so extended or prolonged or protracted that it is exceedingly wearisome or exhausts one’s patience.

Unceasing, like interminable, suggests undue prolonging or protracting, but it emphasizes the extraordinary capacity for going on and on rather than the psychological effect produced (usually on others) by long-continuing activity or continual recurrence.