eternal
/ĭ-tûr′nəl/
adjective
- Being without beginning or end. belief in an eternal creator.
- Continuing without interruption; perpetual: synonym: continual. earned my eternal gratitude.
- Seemingly endless; interminable. eternal waiting at the airport.
I've consulted several different dictionaries, and all say pretty much that both words mean the same thing. At first, I thought that "eternal" may indicate no start or end, while "everlasting" only specifies no end. But that is NOT the case. My Random House Websters College Dictionary (2001) lists "eternal" as a synonym for everlasting. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 3rd edition (1992) lists "everlasting" as a synonym for eternal. My Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition (1996) lists each word as a synonym for the other.
Having said that, this response is admittedly subjective. I think the main difference is in connotation. Part of that connotation is endpoint. Eternal seems to emphasize no start or end, while everlasting emphasizes the lack of ending. Also, in my mind, "eternal" has a sense of stillness and lack of change. While "everlasting" has a more dynamic and vibrant feel.
Answer from Syntax Junkie on Stack Exchangemeaning - Difference between "everlasting" and "eternal" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
The Meaning of Life Eternal (a theory)
Holy shit, I'm going to listen in this order. I thought we were following the story of the Papas and Copia, but maybe they're telling the story of their organization's creation during the Middle Ages, and the chronology goes: Prequelle --> Opus --> Infestisummam --> Meliora --> Popestar/If You Have Ghosts. This way, we have the story of a religion being founded by plague survivors, it grows from the Opus era onwards and eventually becomes the corporate Popestar entity that is performing this tale for us.
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I've consulted several different dictionaries, and all say pretty much that both words mean the same thing. At first, I thought that "eternal" may indicate no start or end, while "everlasting" only specifies no end. But that is NOT the case. My Random House Websters College Dictionary (2001) lists "eternal" as a synonym for everlasting. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 3rd edition (1992) lists "everlasting" as a synonym for eternal. My Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary 10th Edition (1996) lists each word as a synonym for the other.
Having said that, this response is admittedly subjective. I think the main difference is in connotation. Part of that connotation is endpoint. Eternal seems to emphasize no start or end, while everlasting emphasizes the lack of ending. Also, in my mind, "eternal" has a sense of stillness and lack of change. While "everlasting" has a more dynamic and vibrant feel.
Just a snippet from Difference Between Eternal and Everlasting
Summary:
According to the English language, “eternal” means “without beginning or end, always existing, lasting forever”; whereas “everlasting” means “lasting forever, lasting for a very long time, for an indefinitely long time.”
Theologically, “eternal” means “not within any time limit, outside of time and existing without a beginning or end, like spirit”; whereas “everlasting” means “the life which did not always exist but was granted to God and it was forever, running within time, or something similar, which has a beginning but no end.”
See the original article for more information.