Definition: perpetual
perpetual
adj 1: continuing forever or indefinitely; "the ageless themes of
love and revenge"; "eternal truths"; "life
everlasting"; "hell's perpetual fires"; "the unending
bliss of heaven" [syn: ageless, eternal, everlasting,
unending, unceasing]
2: uninterrupted in time and indefinitely long continuing; "the
ceaseless thunder of surf"; "in constant pain"; "night and
day we live with the incessant noise of the city"; "the
never-ending search for happiness"; "the perpetual
struggle to maintain standards in a democracy"; "man's
unceasing warfare with drought and isolation";
"unremitting demands of hunger" [syn: ceaseless, constant,
incessant, never-ending, unceasing, unremitting]
3: occurring so frequently as to seem ceaseless or
uninterrupted; "a child's incessant questions"; "your
perpetual (or continual) complaints" [syn: incessant, endless]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
Perpetual \Per*pet"u*al\, a. [OE. perpetuel, F. perp['e]tuel,
fr. L. perpetualis, fr. perpetuus continuing throughout,
continuous, fr. perpes, -etis, lasting throughout.]
Neverceasing; continuing forever or for an unlimited time;
unfailing; everlasting; continuous.
Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. --Shak.
Perpetual feast of nectared sweets. --Milton.
Circle of perpetual apparition, or occultation. See under
Circle.
Perpetual calendar, a calendar so devised that it may be
adjusted for any month or year.
Perpetual curacy (Ch. of Eng.), a curacy in which all the
tithes are appropriated, and no vicarage is endowed.
--Blackstone.
Perpetual motion. See under Motion.
Perpetual screw. See Endless screw, under Screw.
Syn: Continual; unceasing; endless; everlasting; incessant;
constant; eternal. See Constant.
Tax \Tax\, n. [F. taxe, fr. taxer to tax, L. taxare to touch, sharply, to feel, handle, to censure, value, estimate, fr. tangere, tactum, to touch. See Tangent, and cf. Task, Taste.] 1. A charge, especially a pecuniary burden which is imposed by authority. Specifically: (a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government. A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. --Macaulay. (b) Especially, the sum laid upon specific things, as upon polls, lands, houses, income, etc.; as, a land tax; a window tax; a tax on carriages, and the like. Note: Taxes are annual or perpetual, direct or indirect, etc. (c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses. 2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject. 3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health. 4. Charge; censure. [Obs.] --Clarendon. 5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.] --Johnson. Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.] Syn: Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand.
