Perpetually

How to spell perpetually

11 letters · 5 syllables

How to pronounce perpetually

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does perpetually mean?

1. adverbIn a way that never ends or seems to happen constantly and without interruption.

Perpetually in a sentence

• The old radiator is perpetually leaking, no matter how often we patch it.

• He was perpetually late for the morning meeting, so nobody expected him on time.

Where does perpetually come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin perpetuus, meaning 'continuous' or 'uninterrupted', which was itself built from perpes, describing something that lasts all the way through. The pieces break down as per-, meaning 'through' or 'throughout', joined to a root tied to petere, the Latin verb 'to seek' or 'to go toward', so the original idea was of something going on and on without break. Latin produced the adjective perpetualis, which passed into Old French as perpetuel and arrived in English in the 1300s. From the adjective 'perpetual' English then formed the adverb 'perpetually' with the familiar -ly ending. The same petere root surfaces in a whole family of English words such as 'compete', 'appetite' and 'petition', all carrying that sense of seeking or reaching toward something. Knowing that the middle of the word is petu, not 'pet-u-al' guesswork, helps anchor the slightly slippery -ually ending that adults often fumble.

How the word is built

• per- (through, throughout)
• petu (from petere: to seek, to go toward)
• -al (adjective)
• -ly (adverb)