immortaladj.n.
/ɪˈmɔːtəl/ A. adj.
1.
a. Not mortal; not liable or subject to death; deathless, undying; living for ever.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > supernatural being > [adjective] > of soul: immortal
undeadlya1340
immortalc1374
unmortal1538
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > [adjective] > immortal
undeadlyc950
undeathlyOE
immortalc1374
undyinga1400
ever-living1514
unmortal1538
never-dying1567
tombless1594
deathless1595
transmortal1932
the world > the supernatural > deity > Christian God > nature or attributes of God > [adjective] > everlasting or immortal
immortalc1374
finitea1400
infinite1413
eternal1488
c1374 G. Chaucer Troilus & Criseyde i. 103 So aungelli was hyre natyf beaute Þat lyke a þyng inmortal semede sche.
c1386 G. Chaucer Man of Law's Tale 541 Immortal god that sauedest Susanne Fro fals blame.
a1513 R. Fabyan New Cronycles Eng. & Fraunce (1516) I. Prol. f. iiii All these were Mynystris of god in mortall.
1526 Bible (Tyndale) 1 Tim. i. f. cclxxv So then vnto god, kynge everlastynge, immortall, invisible, and wyse only, be honoure and prayse for ever and ever.
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes i, in Wks. 155/1 What if ye woulde..wene that bestes had immortall soules as men haue?
1656 B. Harris tr. J. N. de Parival Hist. Iron Age i. ii. xiii. 59 Departed out of this fraile life, to the immortall one.
1744 E. Young Complaint: Night the Seventh 69 Souls Immortal, made for Bliss.
1885 T. C. Finlayson Biol. Relig. 87 A human soul might be immortal—in the sense of living on for ever,—and yet might never have..‘eternal life’—the true spiritual life of fellowship with God.
b. transferred. Pertaining to immortal beings or immortality; heavenly, divine.
ΚΠ
1535 Bible (Coverdale) 2 Esdras ii. 45 These be they, that haue put of the mortall clothinge and put on the immortall.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 276 I haue Immortall longings in me. View more context for this quotation
1807 W. Wordsworth Ode in Poems II. 156 Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea Which brought us hither. View more context for this quotation
2. † c. immortal herb n. = immortelle n. Obsolete.
a. In wider sense: Not liable to perish or decay; everlasting, imperishable, unfading, incorruptible.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > eternity or infinite duration > [adjective]
echec825
echelichc825
endlessc888
lastinga1225
everlastingc1225
perdurablec1275
perpetuala1325
unendeda1325
incorruptiblea1340
ay-lastingc1340
inlastingc1340
eternec1366
interminablec1374
unstanchablec1374
ever-duringa1382
eternalc1386
sempitern1390
never-failinga1400
sempiternal14..
ever-being?a1425
ever-durable?a1425
immarcescible?a1475
perennal?c1500
deathless1547
everlastable1548
incessant1557
unperishing1561
undeterminable1581
evera1586
unendlya1586
inexterminable1592
never-ending?1592
aeviternal1596
dateless1597
undecaying1599
entombless1601
perishless1605
ageless1609
continual1610
perpetuous1612
imperible1614
ne'er-endinga1616
out-date1623
undated1624
perennious1628
immortal1630
imperishable1648
birthless1651
fadeless1652
sempiternous1653
evergreen1655
intemporal1656
indefectible1659
inconclusible1660
unending1661
aeonian1664
unfading1665
sempervirent1668
amaranthal1674
ne'er-dying1693
perennial1717
timeless1742
indefeatablea1754
amaranthine1782
aeonial1800
unterminating1821
unevanescent1827
ay1845
forever1879
sempervirid1909
1630 tr. G. Botero Relations Famous Kingdomes World (rev. ed.) 140 Of the Lawes in force, some are fundamentall..and immortall..others are Temporall.
1644 J. Milton Areopagitica 12 The race, where that immortall garland is to be run for.
1752 D. Hume Polit. Disc. xii. 303 The world itself probably is not immortal.
1776 A. Smith Inq. Wealth of Nations I. i. xi. 263 The precious metals..are not necessarily immortal any more than they [sc. the coarse metals] . View more context for this quotation
b. spec. Of fame, or of famous works or their authors: Lasting through an unlimited succession of ages; that will not fade from the memory of men; remembered or celebrated through all time.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > fame after death > [adjective] > eternally or historically famous
ever-livingc1450
immortal?1518
eternized1603
monumental1664
eternalized1830
?1518 A. Barclay Fyfte Eglog sig. Bv [They] haue in batayle,..Won fame immortall, and excellent honours.
1645 J. Milton L'Allegro in Poems 36 Soft Lydian Aires, Married to immortal verse.
1738 J. Swift Compl. Coll. Genteel Conversat. p. iv King William the Third, of ever glorious and immortal Memory.
1756 C. Lucas Ess. Waters ii. 18 As our Immortal Boyle has demonstrated, they are compound bodies.
1837 A. Alison Hist. Europe from French Revol. VI. l. 686 Saragossa..has now..become immortal in the rolls of fame.
1873 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (1875) ix. vi. 331 It was during tedious years of imprisonment that Bunyan wrote his immortal allegory.
1928 E. C. Webster Pot Holes 3 I am as fond of Burns as any, and have read a good deal of his poetry,..but I am not one of those who believe that the Immortal Memory can only be preserved by a yearly pickling in alcohol.
1959 Times 17 Apr. 15/3 His record of devotion to the ‘Immortal Memory’—a toast which he had proposed all over Scotland and England—was typical of this special cult which the wandering Scot has carried all over the globe.
1973 Listener 15 Mar. 344/2 The Johnson celebration..the toast to ‘the immortal memory’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > particular plants > cultivated or valued plants > particular cultivated or ornamental plants > particular flower or plant esteemed for flower > [noun] > composite flowers > everlasting or immortelle
yellow amaranth1551
gold-flower1578
mothwort1578
God's flower1597
golden cudweed1597
golden mothwort1597
moth-weed1597
aurelia1598
everlasting flower1610
everlasting1633
helichrysum1664
yellowheads1712
immortal herb1731
xeranthemum1736
eternal flower1785
immortelle1832
strawflower1924
1731–7 P. Miller Gardeners Dict. Xeranthemum,..is vulgarly call'd the Immortal Herb, because the Flower of it may be kept for many Years, for it has rigid Petals, which crackle as if they were Plates of Metal.
3. † b. colloquial. Superhuman, inhuman, excessive. Obsolete.
a. In hyperbolical use: Lasting, perpetual, constant, ‘undying’, ‘eternal’.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > [adjective] > long-lasting or enduring
longeOE
longsomeeOE
long of lifeOE
lastinga1225
cleaving1340
continualc1340
dwellingc1380
long-livinga1382
everlastingc1384
long-duringa1387
long-lasting?a1400
long-liveda1400
broadc1400
permanable?c1422
perseverant?a1425
permanentc1425
perdurable?a1439
continuedc1440
abiding1448
unremoved1455
eternalc1460
long-continued1464
continuing1526
long-enduring1527
enduring1532
immortal1538
diuturn?1541
veterated1547
resiant?1567
stayinga1568
well-wearinga1568
substantive1575
pertinacious1578
extant1581
ceaseless1590
marble1596
of length1597
longeval1598
diuturnal1599
nine-lived1600
chronic1601
unexhausted1602
chronical1604
endurable1607
continuant1610
indeflourishing1610
aged1611
indurant1611
continuatea1616
perennious1628
seculara1631
undiscontinueda1631
continuated1632
untransitory1632
long-spun1633
momently1641
stative1643
outliving1645
constant1653
long-descended1660
voluminousa1661
perduring1664
perdurant1671
livelong1673
perennial1676
longeve1678
consequential1681
unquenched1703
lifelong1746
momentary1755
inveterate1780
stabile1797
persistent1826
unpassing1831
all-time1846
year-long1846
teak-built1847
lengthful1855
long-term1867
long haul1873
sticky1879
week-to-week1879
perenduring1883
long-range1885
longish1889
long-time1902
long run1904
long-life1915
1538 Stephen in H. Ellis Orig. Lett. Eng. Hist. (1846) 3rd Ser. III. 223 With immortal thancks for youre inestymable goodnes towarde me.
1586 A. Day Eng. Secretorie i. sig. H8v The..immortall hate, that all good men beare to..suche kind of crueltye.
1669 S. Pepys Diary 29 Jan. (1976) IX. 430 I have made myself an immortal enemy by it.
1681 W. Temple Mem. iii, in Wks. (1731) I. 356 An immortal Body of six thousand brave English, which were by Agreement to be continually recruited.
1696 E. Phillips New World of Words (new ed.) Immortal,..abusively said of things that last longer than People would have them, such a Woman has an immortal Clack.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > quantity > greatness of quantity, amount, or degree > high or intense degree > [adjective] > very great or extreme
strangec1380
overpassinga1382
passinga1387
most?c1430
extremec1460
horriblea1464
violenta1500
mainc1540
immortal?c1550
exquisite1552
sore1555
three-piled1598
thundering1618
devilish1639
shrewda1643
deadly1660
woundy1681
vast1696
monstrous1711
mortal1716
terrific1743
hell-fired1754
hellish1764
colossal1794
severe1805
awful1818
all-fired1829
terrible1829
quare and1847
ferocious1877
pluperfect1889
raging1889
giddy1896
utter1898
stiff1905
?c1550 tr. P. Vergil Three Bks. Eng. Hist. (1844) 208 Then he besowght ayd, wherby, throwgh his immortal benyfyt, he might returne safely unto his owne nobylytie.
a1627 J. Hayward Ann. Four Years Elizabeth (1840) 95 A most immortall and mercilesse butcherie did arise.
B. n.
1. An immortal being; one not subject to death. In plural, esp. as a title for the gods of classical mythology.
ΘΚΠ
the world > the supernatural > deity > classical deity > [noun] > collectively
immortal1645
1645 E. Waller Wks. 60 The Paphian Queen..Like terror did among th' immortals breed, Taught by her wound that Goddesses may bleed.
1684 J. Bunyan Pilgrim's Progress 2nd Pt. ii. 8 She thought she saw..her Husband in a place of Bliss among many Immortals . View more context for this quotation
1774 J. Bryant New Syst. III. 87 There was a war carried on against the Titans of Babylonia, whom he styles the Immortals.
1791 W. Cowper tr. Homer Iliad in Iliad & Odyssey I. xvi. 542 Under yon great city fight no few Sprung from Immortals.
a1854 H. Reed Lect. Eng. Lit. (1878) vii. 236 Man..is an immortal, gifted with a soul.
2. figurative.
a. In plural a title for the royal bodyguard of ancient Persia (see quot. 1838); also, for other troops.
ΘΚΠ
society > armed hostility > warriors collectively > lifeguard or bodyguard > [noun] > specific
praetorya1387
pretoira1393
Switzer1591
Scots Guard1602
palatines1623
Swiss guardc1660
yeomanry1673
immortal1803
household brigade1814
Varangian Guard1831
1803 Edinb. Rev. 2 62 The English expedition was opposed to their immortals, to troops covered with trophies and scars.
1823 G. Crabb Universal Technol. Dict. Immortals (Mil.), a term of derision applied to soldiers who never see war.
1838 C. Thirlwall Hist. Greece (new ed.) II. xv. 253 A body of 10,000 Persian infantry, the flower of the whole army, who were called the Immortals, because their number was kept constantly full.
1925 E. Fraser & J. Gibbons Soldier & Sailor Words 188 Immortals, the: A nickname of the 2nd Battalion, the Duke of Wellington's Regiment.
b. A person, esp. an author, of enduring fame: cf. A. 2b. Usually in plural.Applied familiarly to the forty members of the French Academy (French les quarante immortels), with a side reference to the fact that their number is always filled up; hence sometimes to the Royal Academicians in England.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > esteem > reputation > fame or renown > fame after death > [noun] > immortal fame > person having
immortal1882
1882 J. A. Froude T. Carlyle: First Forty Years I. xxi. 421 He might not have been the Carlyle who has conquered a place for himself among the Immortals.
3. That which is immortal; immortality.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > source or principle of life > continuance or tenacity of life > [noun] > immortality
undeadlinessc1000
undeathlinessOE
undeathshildinessc1175
immortalitya1340
immortalnessc1616
deathlessness1682
immortal1841
undyingnessa1864
athanasy1870
1841 G. P. R. James Brigand i As if the immortal within us were telling the mortal of anxieties and griefs, and dangers approaching.
1844 E. B. Browning House of Clouds xiii Love secures some fairer things, Dowered with his immortal.
Derivatives
iˈmmortalism n. a doctrine of or belief in immortality.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > doctrines concerning the soul > [noun] > immortalism
immortalism1796
1796 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 21 509 Doctrines of freedom of the will, immaterialism, immortalism, and theism.
iˈmmortalist n. one who believes in immortality.
ΘΚΠ
society > faith > aspects of faith > spirituality > soul > doctrines concerning the soul > [noun] > immortalism > believer in
immortalista1667
a1667 Bp. J. Taylor Funeral Serm. 392 The inhabitants of Ister..were called Immortalists, because..they saw this clearly, that virtuous and good men do not die, but their souls do go into blessed regions.
1817 W. Taylor in Monthly Rev. 83 15 Deists and atheists, immortalists and mortalists.
iˈmmortalness n. = immortality n.
ΚΠ
c1616 R. C. Certaine Poems in Times' Whistle (1871) 151 Then shall our corruptible flesh put on Immortalnesse and incorruption.
iˈmmortalship n. [ < B.] the personality of an immortal (used as a burlesque title).
ΚΠ
1816 G. Colman Eccentricities Edinb. 30 Up their Immortalships all bounced.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1899; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.n.c1374