αἰώνιος

From αἰών (aiṓn, “age, eon”) +‎ -ιος (-ios, adjective suffix).

αἰώνῐος • (aiṓnĭos) m (feminine αἰωνῐ́ᾱ, neuter αἰώνῐον); first/second declension

1. age-long; lasting for a long or indefinite period of time; long-lasting

   (of past time, esp. in temporal expressions; hence “for ages”, “from long ago”)

   • 55 CE – 57 CE, Epistle to the Romans 16:25:

     ... χρόνοις αἰωνίοις ...

     ... khrónois aiōníois ...

     ... kept silent for long ages ...

   (of duration bounded by a natural life; “lifelong”)

   • 341 BCE – 270 BCE, Epicurus, Principal Doctrines 28:

     … μηθὲν αἰώνιον εἶναι δεινὸν μηδὲ πολυχρόνιον …

     … mēthèn aiṓnion eînai deinòn mēdè polukhrónion …

     … that dreadful things are not life-long …

   • Aretaios, Causes and Symptoms of Acute Diseases 1.5:

     οὐ χρονίη μοῦνον γίγνεται, ἀλλὰ … αἰωνίη

     ou khroníē moûnon gígnetai, allà … aiōníē

     it becomes not merely long-lasting, but lifelong.

   • 375 BCE, Plato, The Republic 363d:

     … μέθην αἰώνιον

     … méthēn aiṓnion

     … age-long drunkenness.

2. lasting for life; permanent (esp. of an office or civic title)
   • inscription:

     γυμνασίαρχος αἰώνιος

     gumnasíarkhos aiṓnios

     a gymnasiarch for life

3. (philosophical) perpetual, eternal, everlasting; denoting a mode of duration not measured by ordinary time (contrasted with χρόνος or πρόσκαιρος)
   • 428 BCE – 347 BCE, Plato, Laws 904a:

     ἀνώλεθρον δὲ ὂν γενόμενον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ αἰώνιον

     anṓlethron dè òn genómenon, all’ ouk aiṓnion

     though generated and indestructible, it is not eternal.

4. (eschatological) perpetual, eternal, everlasting; lasting without end

   (of final states or destinies in Jewish and Christian eschatology, where a finite duration is excluded by context)

   • 300 BCE – 200 BCE, Septuagint, Daniel 12.2:

     … οὗτοι εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον … εἰς αἰσχύνην αἰώνιον

     … hoûtoi eis zōḕn aiṓnion … eis aiskhúnēn aiṓnion

     … some to eternal life, and some to eternal shame.

   • 70 CE – 90 CE, The Gospel of Matthew 25:46:

     … εἰς κόλασιν αἰώνιον … εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον

     … eis kólasin aiṓnion … eis zōḕn aiṓnion

     … into eternal punishment, but into eternal life.

   • 90 CE – 100 CE, The Gospel of John 3:16:

     ἵνα πᾶς ὁ πιστεύων εἰς αὐτὸν μὴ ἀπόληται ἀλλ᾽ ἔχῃ ζωὴν αἰώνιον

     hína pâs ho pisteúōn eis autòn mḕ apólētai all’ ékhēi zōḕn aiṓnion

     so that everyone who believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

   • 55 CE – 57 CE, Epistle to the Romans 2:7:

     τοῖς μὲν καθʼ ὑπομονὴν ἔργου ἀγαθοῦ δόξαν καὶ τιμὴν καὶ ἀφθαρσίαν ζητοῦσιν ζωὴν αἰώνιον

     toîs mèn kath’ hupomonḕn érgou agathoû dóxan kaì timḕn kaì aphtharsían zētoûsin zōḕn aiṓnion

     to those who by patient good work seek glory, honor, and incorruptibility, (he will repay them with) eternal life.

5. (rare, technical, Roman) pertaining to a formally defined age-cycle or ceremonial period (≈ Latin saecularis)
   • Phlegon of Tralles, Macrobii 4:

     περὶ τῶν αἰωνίων θεωριῶν, ἃ Ῥωμαῖοι σεκουλάρια καλοῦσι

     perì tôn aiōníōn theōriôn, hà Rhōmaîoi sekoulária kaloûsi

     concerning the aiōnian rites, which the Romans call secular

• The neuter αἰώνιον (aiṓnion) may be used substantively in philosophical texts to denote “that which is eternal”.
• Although ἀΐδιος (aḯdios) denotes existence without beginning or end in philosophical contexts, αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) is regularly used in Jewish and Christian texts for states whose duration is unending by context, especially when reinforced by expressions such as εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα (eis tòn aiôna) or strong negation (e.g. οὐ μὴ (ou mḕ)).
• In Jewish eschatological contexts, αἰώνιος (aiṓnios) often translates Hebrew עֹולָם (ʿōlām), especially in resurrection and final-judgment passages (e.g. Daniel 12:2), where the duration is not bounded by any subsequent age.

• ᾱ̓ῐ̈́δῐος (āĭ̈́dĭos)

• “αἰώνιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1940), A Greek–English Lexicon, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “αἰώνιος”, in Liddell & Scott (1889), An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, New York: Harper & Brothers
• αἰώνιος in Bailly, Anatole (1935), Le Grand Bailly: Dictionnaire grec-français, Paris: Hachette
• αἰώνιος in the Diccionario Griego–Español en línea (2006–2026)
• G166 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Woodhouse, S. C. (1910), English–Greek Dictionary: A Vocabulary of the Attic Language‎^[1], London: Routledge & Kegan Paul Limited.
  • continual idem, page 168.
  • deathless idem, page 198.
  • endless idem, page 273.
  • eternal idem, page 284.
  • everlasting idem, page 285.
  • immortal idem, page 418.
  • imperishable idem, page 420.
  • interminable idem, page 451.
  • permanent idem, page 607.
  • perpetual idem, page 607.
  • undying idem, page 916.
  • unending idem, page 916.
  • unfading idem, page 917.