eonian

English

Alternative forms

• aeonian, æonian, aionian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek αἰώνιος (aiṓnios, “lasting for an age; perpetual; eternal”) + -an, the former from αἰών (aiṓn, “lifetime; aeon; age; generation”) (whence also eon, aeon) + -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /iˈoʊniən/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /iːˈəʊnɪən/

Adjective

eonian (comparative more eonian, superlative most eonian)

1. Of or pertaining to an eon
2. (by extension) eon-long, everlasting
   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XXXV, page 54:

     But I should turn mine ears and hear
     The moanings of the homeless sea,
     ⁠The sound of streams that swift or slow
     ⁠Draw down Æonian hills, and sow
     The dust of continents to be; […]