Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Not subject to death.
  • adjective Never to be forgotten; everlasting.
  • adjective Of or relating to immortality.
  • adjective Biology Capable of indefinite growth or division. Used of cells in culture.
  • noun One not subject to death.
  • noun One whose fame is enduring.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Not mortal; not liable or subject to death; having unlimited existence; undying.
  • Hence Unceasing; inextinguishable; imperishable; destined to endure for all time: as, immortal hopes; immortal fame.
  • Indefatigable; unchanging.
  • Synonyms Perpetual, Everlasting, etc. (see eternal); incorruptible, deathless, enduring, unfading.
  • noun One who is immortal, or exempt from death or annihilation.
  • noun One of the gods of classical mythology: usually in the plural.
  • noun The name of the royal guard of ancient Persia, the members of which were magnificently equipped and numerously attended.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun One who will never cease to be; one exempt from death, decay, or annihilation.
  • adjective Not mortal; exempt from liability to die; undying; imperishable; lasting forever; having unlimited, or eternal, existance.
  • adjective Connected with, or pertaining to immortality.
  • adjective Destined to live in all ages of this world; abiding; exempt from oblivion; imperishable.
  • adjective obsolete Great; excessive; grievous.
  • adjective immortelles; everlastings.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Not susceptible to death; living forever; never dying.
  • adjective Never to be forgotten; that merits being always remembered.
  • noun One who is not susceptible to death.
  • noun A member of an elite regiment of the Persian army.
  • noun A member of the Académie française.
  • noun Internet An administrator of a multi-user dungeon; a wizard.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective not subject to death
  • noun a person (such as an author) of enduring fame
  • noun any supernatural being worshipped as controlling some part of the world or some aspect of life or who is the personification of a force

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English, from Old French immortel, from Latin immortālis; see mer- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin immortālis, from prefix im- ("not"), from in-, + mortālis ("mortal"), from mors ("death") (combining form mort-), + adjectival suffix -alis.

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Examples

  • My immortals cannot be killed (hence the term immortal and it's explained in the story) but life can become uncomfortable for them (also explained in the story) so they still have rudimentary towns and such for social interaction, trade, and comfort.

    Ask MetaFilter 2010

  • The part of them worthy of the name immortal, which is called divine and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and you — of that divine part I will myself sow the seed, and having made a beginning, I will hand the work over to you.

    Timaeus 2006

  • He saw a chance to perform a great service and make his name immortal.

    How to Win Friends and Influence People Dale Carnegie 1981

  • The part of them worthy of the name immortal, which is called divine and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and you-of that divine part I will myself sow the seed, and having made a beginning, I will hand the work over to you.

    TIMAEUS Plato 1949

  • The part of them worthy of the name immortal, which is called divine and is the guiding principle of those who are willing to follow justice and you -- of that divine part I will myself sow the seed, and having made a beginning, I will hand the work over to you.

    Timaeus 427? BC-347? BC Plato 1855

  • To illustrate how few people actually read its terms and conditions disclosure, the online retailer Gamestation, on April Fools' Day 2010, replaced the usual text with what it called an "immortal soul clause," which read: "By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 anno Domini, you agree to grant us a non-transferable option to claim, for now and forever more, your immortal soul."

    NYT > Home Page By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL 2012

  • To illustrate how few people actually read its terms and conditions disclosure, the online retailer Gamestation, on April Fools' Day 2010, replaced the usual text with what it called an "immortal soul clause," which read: "By placing an order via this Web site on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 anno Domini, you agree to grant us a non-transferable option to claim, for now and forever more, your immortal soul."

    NYT > Home Page By ELISABETH ROSENTHAL 2012

  • The very nature of the immortal is that they bind the elsewhen of the past to the here-and-now; their very life is a seam running through reality.

    Notes on Strange Fiction: Seams Hal Duncan 2008

  • The very nature of the immortal is that they bind the elsewhen of the past to the here-and-now; their very life is a seam running through reality.

    Archive 2008-08-01 Hal Duncan 2008

  • He found another passage in the book and read aloud, “‘If any creature could be called immortal it is the insect, which inhabited the earth millions of years before the advent of mammals and which will be here on earth long after intelligent life has vanished.’”

    A Lincoln Rhyme eBook Boxed Set Jeffery Deaver 2001

Comments

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  • the immortal thirst for beauty has always found its satisfaction...

    -Charles Baudelaire

    April 22, 2009

  • I always think of the Hugo award winning novel "This Immortal" by Roger Zelazny, although he peculiarly prefers the original title, "And Call Me Conrad".

    April 23, 2009