sempiternal: M-W's Word of the Day

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The Word of the Day for July 1 is:

sempiternal \sem-pih-TER-nul\ adjective
: of never-ending duration : eternal

Example sentence:
The owner of the lost exotic bird made it clear that whoever found his pet would receive a handsome cash reward as well as his sempiternal gratitude.

Did you know?
Despite their similarities, "sempiternal" and "eternal" come from different roots. "Sempiternal" is derived from the Late Latin "sempiternalis" and ultimately from "semper," Latin for "always." (You may recognize "semper" as a key element in the motto of the U.S. Marine Corps: "semper fidelis," meaning "always faithful.") "Eternal," on the other hand, is derived by way of Middle French and Middle English from the Late Latin "aeternalis" and ultimately from "aevum," Latin for "age" or "eternity." "Sempiternal" is much less common than "eternal," but some writers have found it useful. Ralph Waldo Emerson, for example, wrote, "The one thing which we seek with insatiable desire is to forget ourselves...to lose our sempiternal memory, and to do something without knowing how or why...."

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