endless

English

Etymology

From Middle English endeles, from Old English endelēas (“endless”), from Proto-Germanic *andijalausaz (“endless”), equivalent to end +‎ -less.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛndlɪs/, /ˈɛndləs/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: end‧less

Adjective

endless (not comparable)

1. Having no end.

   endless time; endless praise

   • 1942 May-June, “Cable Operation at Liverpool and London”, in Railway Magazine, page 174:

     Trains from Lime Street to Edge Hill were hauled by an endless hempen rope worked by a stationary engine on the platform at the latter station.

2. Extending indefinitely.

   an endless line

3. Too much or many to be exhausted; an extremely high number or amount of; immeasurable, innumerable.
   • 1971, Gwen White, Antique Toys And Their Background, page 64:

     In 1903, [Albert Shhoenhut] announced his Humpty Dumpty circus, with over 20 figures and animals, each with six joints enabling them to be put into endless positions.

4. (obsolete) Without profitable end; fruitless; unsatisfying.
   • c. 1615–1616, Francis Beaumont, John Fletcher, “Loves Pilgramage, a Comedy”, in Comedies and Tragedies […], London: […] Humphrey Robinson, […], and for Humphrey Moseley […], published 1647, →OCLC, Act II, scene iii:

     All loves are endless.

Synonyms

• (having no end): unending; see also Thesaurus:endless
• (extending indefinitely): eternal, infinite, unlimited; see also Thesaurus:infinite or Thesaurus:eternal

Antonyms

• finite
• limited

Derived terms

• endless belt
• endless chain
• endless galaxy
• endless loop
• endlessly
• endlessness
• endless runner
• endless saw
• endless screw
• endless September

 

Translations

having no end

• Armenian: անվերջ (hy) (anverǰ)
• Bulgarian: безкраен (bg) (bezkraen)
• Catalan: interminable (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 不盡／不尽 (bat¹ zeon⁶)

  Hokkien: 不盡／不尽 (zh-min-nan) (put-chīn)

  Mandarin: 無窮／无穷 (zh) (wúqióng)

  Mandarin: 不盡／不尽 (zh) (bùjìn)

• Czech: nekonečný (cs)
• Danish: endeløs (da)
• Dutch: eindeloos (nl)
• Esperanto: senfina (eo)
• Finnish: loputon (fi), loppumaton (fi), päättymätön (fi)
• French: infini (fr), interminable (fr), perpétuel (fr)
• Galician: infindo (gl), infinito (gl), sen termo, sen fin
• Georgian: უსასრულო (usasrulo), დაუსრულებელი (dausrulebeli), გაუთავებელი (gautavebeli), უთავბოლო (utavbolo), უსაზღვრო (usazɣvro)
• German: endlos (de), unbegrenzt (de)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌽𐌳𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌿𐍃 (andilaus)
• Greek: ατελείωτος (el) (ateleíotos), ατέλειωτος (el) (atéleiotos)

  Ancient Greek: ᾰ̓́πειρος (ápeiros), ἀνήνυτος (anḗnutos), ἀανής (aanḗs)

• Ingrian: otsatoin
• Italian: interminabile (it), senza fine, infinito (it)
• Japanese: 無限の (ja) (むげん, mugen no), 果てしない (ja) (はてしない, hateshinai)
• Khmer: អនន្ត (km) (ʼaʼnɑn)
• Latin: infīnītus, aeternus (la)
• Latvian: nebeidzams
• Lithuanian: begalinis
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: endeløs

• Persian: بی‌پایان (bê-pâyân)
• Portuguese: infinito (pt), infindável (pt), incessante (pt), infindo (pt)
• Romanian: fără sfârșit, nesfârșit (ro), interminabil (ro)
• Russian: бесконе́чный (ru) (beskonéčnyj)
• Sanskrit: अनन्त (sa) (ananta)
• Scottish Gaelic: sìorraidh
• Serbo-Croatian: bezgraničan (sh)
• Spanish: interminable, sinfín (es), infinito (es)
• Swedish: ändlös (sv)
• Telugu: అంతములేని (antamulēni), అనంతము (te) (anantamu)
• Thai: อนันต์ (th) (à-nan)
• Turkish: sonsuz (tr), bitmeyen
• Urdu: لامتناہی (lāmutanāhī)
• Welsh: annherfynol (cy), bythol, diddiwedd, diderfyn (cy), didranc

indefinite

• Catalan: inacabable
• Danish: uendelig (da)
• Dutch: oneindig (nl), grenzeloos (nl)
• Finnish: loputon (fi), loppumaton (fi), päättymätön (fi)
• Georgian: განუსაზღვრელი (ganusazɣvreli), უსაზღვრო (usazɣvro)
• German: unbegrenzt (de), unbeschränkt (de), unendlich (de)
• Greek: ατελείωτος (el) (ateleíotos), ατέλειωτος (el) (atéleiotos)
• Latvian: bezgalīgs
• Polish: bezkresny (pl)
• Romanian: nesfârșit (ro)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} infini (fr)
• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} bezkrajno, ^{(please verify)} bezkrajna, ^{(please verify)} bezkrajni
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} sonsuz (tr), ^{(please verify)} ölümsüz (tr), ^{(please verify)} ebedi (tr)

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