perpetual
per·pet·u·al/pɚˈpɛt͡ʃuəl/adjective, noun
perpetual is spelled P-E-R-P-E-T-U-A-L: 9 letters and 4 syllables (per·pet·u·al). It appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, perpetual means “Lasting forever, or for an indefinitely long time” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in perpetual?
| Letters | 9: P-E-R-P-E-T-U-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: per·pet·u·al |
| In writing | 4.1 times per million words; the 12,764th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is perpetual?
Perpetual appears 4.1 times per million words in written English, the 12,764th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce perpetual?
- US /pɚˈpɛt͡ʃuəl/
- UK /pəˈpɛtʃʊəl/
- UK /pəˈpɛtjʊəl/
Perpetual has 4 syllables, split per·pet·u·al in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-perpetual.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of perpetual
- perpetuals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does perpetual mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 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.
- 4
Flowering throughout the growing season.
By means of artificial hybridization, practised for a series of years, he has succeeded in producing a race of carnations which are perpetual bloomers.
noun
- 1
Ellipsis of perpetual check.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Perpetual in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense lasting forever:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | perpétuel |
| German | unbefristet, ewig, immerwährend, unaufhörlich, dauerhaft, permanent |
| Portuguese | perpétuo |
| Spanish | perpetuo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does perpetual come from?
From Middle English perpetuel, from Old French perpetuel, from Latin perpetuālis (“universal”), from perpetuus, from petō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).