adj. 1. Lasting forever; never-ending: conceived heaven as a state of perpetual bliss. 2. Continuing or being so for an indefinitely long time: found themselves in perpetual debt; felt like a perpetual outsider. See Synonyms at continual. 3. Flowering throughout the growing season. [Middle English perpetuel, from Old French, from Latin perpetuālis, from perpetuus, continuous : per-, per- + petere, to go toward; see pet- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] per·petu·al·ly adv. |
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