[Elamur Dictionary](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/perpetual/) [dictionaries](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [English](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/) / [P](https://md.dictionary.elamur.ai/free/en/english/p/) / perpetual # perpetual adjective (perpetual) «perpetual» in the English dictionary: everyday and in Jewish tradition — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova. ## Everyday 1. Lasting forever or for a very long time, never ending. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#m1) 2. Happening again and again, so often it seems never to stop: perpetual complaints. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#m2) 3. (of a calendar or plant) Working or flowering year after year without needing changing. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#m3) ### In the lessons In stories and talk it exaggerates something annoying: «my brother's perpetual whining». In science, a «perpetual motion machine» is a machine that would run forever without energy; it is impossible, because energy is always lost. Maths has «perpetual» patterns that go on forever. A formal or literary word. Phrases: «perpetual motion», «perpetual snow», «a perpetual state of». ### Examples - The mountain tops are covered in perpetual snow. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x1) - A perpetual motion machine cannot be built. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x2) - The baby's perpetual crying kept us awake. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x3) - The lighthouse is a perpetual guard of the coast. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x4) - She lived in perpetual fear of spiders. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x5) - The waterfall makes a perpetual roar. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x6) - The pattern 1, 2, 1, 2 is perpetual — it never ends. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x7) - THE WEASELS and the Mice waged a perpetual war with each other, in which much blood was shed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/#x8) ### Note Adjective; adverb: perpetually. Do not confuse with «perpendicular» (at right angles). Often used for exaggeration — «perpetual» in daily speech usually means «very often», not truly forever. ## In Jewish tradition It means lasting forever, as in the Sabbath covenant and the daily incense. The prophets and psalms also use it for things that never end or never stop, such as endless shame, endless backsliding, or endless pain. **Interpretation.** Tradition reads "perpetual" as binding for all generations. The Sabbath is a sign between God and Israel that never ends. ### Examples - Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. (Torah EXO.31.16, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x1) - But the fields of the open land about their cities may not be sold; for that is their perpetual possession. (Torah LEV.25.34, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x2) - And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at dusk, he shall burn it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. (Torah EXO.30.8, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x3) - And He smote His adversaries backward; He put upon them a perpetual reproach. (Writings PSA.78.66, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x4) - Why then is this people of Jerusalem slidden back by a perpetual backsliding? (Prophets JER.8.5, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x5) - Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, so that it refuseth to be healed? (Prophets JER.15.18, JPS 1917) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/#x6) ### Note Adjective; adverb: perpetually. Do not confuse with «perpendicular» (at right angles). Often used for exaggeration — «perpetual» in daily speech usually means «very often», not truly forever. ## On Mova - [Trees and pragmatics of «perpetual» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/P/perpetual/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«perpetual» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/perpetual.html) on Mova free. - [Trees and pragmatics of «perpetual» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/judaism/P/perpetual/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames. - [«perpetual» in the Judaism dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/judaism/w/perpetual.html) on Mova free.