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forever

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

See also:for ever

English

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Alternative forms

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for ever(chiefly British)
fore'er,for e'er(dialectal or poetic, otherwise archaic)
Forever(noun, poetic)

Etymology

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Univerbation offor ever, fromMiddle Englishfor ever,for evere. Bysurface analysis,for +‎ever. First attested in the late 14c., and first attested in the late 17c. as one word. Noun first attested in 1858.

Pronunciation

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(Received Pronunciation)IPA^(key): /fəˈɹɛvə(ɹ)/
(General American)IPA^(key): /fəˈɹɛvɚ/,/fɚˈɛvɚ/,/fɔɹˈɛvɚ/
Audio(US): (file)
Rhymes:-ɛvə(ɹ)

Adverb

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forever (notcomparable)

(duration) For alltime, for alleternity; for alifetime; for aninfinite amount of time.
Synonyms:forevermore,in aeternum
I shall love youforever.
- 1839, Denison Olmsted,A Compendium of Astronomy, page95:
  Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to moveforever, unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
- 1949, George Orwell,Nineteen Eighty-Four:
  If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — for ever.
(duration, colloquial, hyperbolic) For a verylong time, a seeming eternity.
We had to waitforever to get inside.
That wasforever ago.
- 1988,Anne Tyler, chapter 1, inBreathing Lessons:
  She and Serena had been friendsforever. Or nearlyforever: forty-two years, beginning with Miss Kimmel's first grade.
- 2024 February 7, Lee Waters tells Conrad Landin, “A mission to improve transport for Wales”, inRAIL, number1002, page35:
  Anything in the world of transport takesforever to do, and costs far too much.
(frequency)Constantly orfrequently.
You areforever nagging me.
- 1912 October,Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, inThe All-Story, New York, N.Y.:Frank A. Munsey Co.,→OCLC; republished as chapter 5, inTarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.:A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company,June 1914,→OCLC:
  Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he wasforever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.

Usage notes

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In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spellingfor ever may be used instead offorever for the sensesfor all time andfor a long time. In Canada and the United States, generally onlyforever is used, regardless of sense.

for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time

Amharic:ለዘለዓለም(läzäläʿaläm),ለዘላለም(läzälaläm),ዘለዓለም(zäläʿaläm),ዘለአለም(zäläʾäläm)
Arabic:إِلَى الْأَبَد(ʔilā l-ʔabad)
Armenian:ընդմիշտ (hy)(əndmišt),հավետ (hy)(havet)
Belarusian:назаўжды(nazawždy),наве́кі(navjéki),наве́чна(navjéčna)
Breton:da viken (br)
Bulgarian:завинаги (bg)(zavinagi)
Catalan:per sempre,(Balearic)per a sempre
Cherokee:ᎢᎪᎯᏛ(igohidv),ᎢᎪᎯᏓᏊᎨᏒ(igohidaquugesv)
Chinese:
Mandarin:永久 (zh)(yǒngjiǔ),永遠 /永远 (zh)(yǒngyuǎn)
Coptic:ϣⲁ ⲉ̀ⲛⲉϩ(ša èneh)
Cornish:bys vykken
Crimean Tatar:ebediyen,ömürlik,bütünley
Czech:navždy (cs),na věky
Danish:for altid (da)
Dutch:eeuwig (nl),(voor) altijd (nl)
Esperanto:ĉiam (eo)
Finnish:ikuisesti (fi),ikiajoiksi (fi)
French:à jamais (fr),pour toujours (fr)
Georgian:მუდამ(mudam),სამუდამოდ(samudamod),მარად(marad)
German:für immer (de),ewig (de),unaufhörlich (de),auf immer,für eger
Greek:για πάντα (el)(gia pánta, literally“for always”),αιώνια (el)(aiónia)
Ancient:ἀεί(aeí),διὰ παντός(dià pantós)
Hawaiian:mau loa
Hebrew:לנצח(lanétsaḥ),לעולם (he)(le'olam)
Hindi:हमेशा के लिए(hameśā ke lie),कभी के लिए(kabhī ke lie),सदा का(sadā kā)
Hungarian:örökre (hu),örökké (hu),mindörökké (hu)
Icelandic:að eilífu (is)
Ido:sempre (io),omnatempe (io)
Irish:go bráth,go deo
Italian:per sempre
Japanese:永久に (ja)(えいきゅうに, eikyū ni),永遠に (ja)(えいえんに, eien ni),とわに(towa ni),常しえに(tokoshie ni)
Kashubian:na wiedno
Khmer:រហូត (km)(rahoat)
Korean:영원(永遠)히 (ko)(yeong'wonhi)
Latin:aeternō,in perpetuum,in omne tempus,perpetuum
Lutuv:chuozaa
Macedonian:засекогаш(zasekogaš)
Malay:selama-lamanya
Maltese:għal dejjem
Manchu:ᡝᠨᡨᡝᡥᡝᠮᡝ(enteheme)
Marshallese:indeeo
Mongolian:please add this translation if you can
Navajo:hoolʼáágóó
Norwegian:
Bokmål:for alltid
Nynorsk:for alltid
Old English:on ēcnesse
Persian:برای همیشه(barâ-ye hamiše)
Plautdietsch:eewichlich
Polish:na zawsze (pl),po wsze czasy (pl),na zawżdy
Portuguese:para sempre (pt)
Romanian:întotdeauna (ro),pe vecie
Russian:ве́чно (ru)(véčno),всегда́ (ru)(vsegdá),навсегда́ (ru)(navsegdá),наве́ки (ru)(navéki),наве́чно (ru)(navéčno)
Sanskrit:सर्वकालम् (sa)(sarvakālam),सर्वदा (sa)(sarvadā),सनातन (sa)(sanātana)
Scottish Gaelic:gu bràth,gu sìorraidh,a-chaoidh
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic:заувијек,заувек
Roman:zauvijek (sh),zauvek (sh)
Spanish:para siempre
Swahili:milele (sw)
Swedish:för alltid,för evigt
Tagalog:magpakailanman (tl)
Thai:ตลอดไป (th)(dtà-lòt-bpai),นิรันดร (th)(ní-ran-dɔɔn)
Tok Pisin:oltaim
Turkish:sonsuza kadar,sonsuza dek,daima (tr)
Ukrainian:наза́вжди(nazávždy),назавжди́(nazavždý),наві́к(navík),ві́чно(víčno),назавше(nazavše),навічно(navično),навіки (uk)(naviky)
Urdu:ہمیشہ کے لئے(hameśā ke lie)
Uyghur:مەڭگۈ(menggü)
Uzbek:abadiy (uz),doimiy (uz)
Vietnamese:mãi mãi (vi),vĩnh viễn (vi) (永遠)
Welsh:am byth
West Frisian:ivich
Yiddish:אויף אייביק(oyf eybik)
Yup'ik:akwarpak

(colloquially) for a very long time

Belarusian:цэлую вечнасць(celuju vječnascʹ)
Bulgarian:навеки (bg)(naveki)
Dutch:een eeuwigheid,eeuwen (nl),tijden (nl) pl
Finnish:ikuisuuden (fi)
German:ewig (de),für immer (de)
Japanese:永遠に(eien ni)
Polish:całą wieczność
Russian:це́лую ве́чность(céluju véčnostʹ)
Swahili:milele (sw)
Ukrainian:цілу вічність(cilu vičnistʹ)
West Frisian:ivich

(colloquially) for an excessively long time

Dutch:eeuwig (nl),eindeloos (nl)
Finnish:ikuisuuden (fi)
German:ewig (de),für immer (de)
Polish:na zawsze (pl)
Russian:це́лую ве́чность(céluju véčnostʹ)
Spanish:por siempre
Swahili:milele (sw)

(colloquially) constantly or frequently

Dutch:steed,altijd (nl)
Finnish:aina (fi)
German:ewig (de),ständig (de),unaufhörlich (de),andauernd (de)
Hindi:सदा (hi)(sadā)
Hungarian:örökké (hu)
Polish:cały czas (pl) m
Russian:ве́чно (ru)(véčno),постоя́нно (ru)(postojánno)
Spanish:constantemente,sin cesar
Swahili:milele (sw)
Swedish:alltid (sv)
Ukrainian:вічно(vično)

Noun

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forever (countable anduncountable,pluralforevers)

(countable, colloquial) An extremely long time.
I haven't seen him inforever!
It took meforever to make up my mind.
Don't spendforever on the phone!
She should've been here fiveforevers ago!
- 2001 September, Michael Knisley, “The Braves' last stand”, inSporting News, volume225, number36, page12:
  It's been a fortnight offorevers since the Braves could count on a late-game comeback.
- 2007, Ruth O'Callaghan,Where acid has etched:
  In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouthforevers, the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.
(uncountable, colloquial or poetic) A mythical time in the future that will never come.
Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th offorever.

Translations

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extremely long time

Finnish:ikuisuus (fi)

mythical time in the infinite future

Finnish:iäisyys (fi)
Spanish:eternidad (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French:^{(pleaseverify)}éternellement (fr),^{(pleaseverify)}toujours (fr)
Hebrew:^{(pleaseverify)}לעד(la'ad),^{(pleaseverify)}לנצח(laneitzach)
Japanese:^{(pleaseverify)}ずっと (ja)(zutto);^{(pleaseverify)}永遠 (ja)(eien)
Korean:^{(pleaseverify)}영원히 (ko)(yeong'wonhi)
Nauruan:^{(pleaseverify)}eko dokin
Scottish Gaelic:^{(pleaseverify)}gu bràth,^{(pleaseverify)}gu sìorraidh,^{(pleaseverify)}gu suthain,^{(pleaseverify)}gu suthain sìorraidh,^{(pleaseverify)}a-chaoidh
Spanish:^{(pleaseverify)}por siempre,^{(pleaseverify)}para siempre
Swedish:^{(pleaseverify)}för alltid (sv),^{(pleaseverify)}för evigt (sv)

Adjective

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forever (notcomparable)

(chiefly informal)Permanent,lasting;constant,perpetual.
- 1971,Bruce Johnston,"Disney Girls (1957)":
  It'd be a peaceful life / With aforever wife / And a kid someday
- 2009, Kathy Kadilak,Tommy Finds His Forever Home, page 3:
  We'll take care of you and help you find aForever Home.
- 2012, Brad Hicks,For Every Fear a Promise, page96:
  He is aforever friend.
- 2016, Mark Danner,Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War:
  Danner posits that the United States has been trapped in a "forever war" by 9/11, and describes a nation that has been altered in fundamental ways by President Bush's having declared a war of choice and without an exit plan,[…]