sempiternal
sem·pi·ter·nal/ˌsɛm.pɪˈtɝ.nəl/adjective
sempiternal is an adjective meaning “Everlasting, eternal” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled S-E-M-P-I-T-E-R-N-A-L and has 4 syllables (sem·pi·ter·nal), and it appears about once in every 26 million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does sempiternal mean?
adjective
- 1
Everlasting, eternal.
- 2
Having infinite temporal duration, rather than outside time and thus lacking temporal duration altogether; everlasting.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce sempiternal?
- UK /ˌsɛm.pɪˈtɜː.nəl/
- US /ˌsɛm.pɪˈtɝ.nəl/
Sempiternal has 4 syllables, split sem·pi·ter·nal in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-sempiternal.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
How common is sempiternal?
Sempiternal appears about once in every 26 million words in written English, the 155,937th 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).
Sempiternal in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense seemingly everlasting or eternal:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | sempiternel |
| Spanish | sempiterno |
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 sempiternal come from?
From Old French sempiternel, from Medieval Latin sempiternālis, from Latin sempiternus, a contraction of semperæternus, from semper (“always”) + æternus (“eternal”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).