Make Your Point > Archived Issues > SEMPITERNAL

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explore the archives: If you're familiar with the motto semper fidelis (or semper fi), you know it means "always faithful." With that in mind, it's easy to recognize that sempiternal means "always eternal." But wait, "eternal" and "always" mean approximately the same thing--so our word sempiternal is, by itself, repetitive. It's a repetition that I find poetic, though. The same goes for d_rr___-do: it's poetic and fun to say, and yet there's no need to use such a repetitive term when you can just say "daring." make your point with... "SEMPITERNAL" "Sempiternal" literally means "always eternal." Sempiternal things are eternal, everlasting, absolutely always in existence. In other words, when something is sempiternal, it's constant and lasts forever. Pronunciation: SEMP ih TURN ull Part of speech: Adjective. (Adjectives are describing words, like "large" or "late." They can be used in two ways: 1. Right before a noun, as in "a sempiternal thing." 2. After a linking verb, as in "It was sempiternal.") Other forms: sempiternally, sempiternity How to use it: Save "sempiternal" for when you need to be very poetic, very dramatic, or just funny or sarcastic. "Sempiternal" is always an intense, emphatic word. It can be both positive ("sempiternal fame," "a sempiternal source of goodness and light") and negative ("sempiternal warfare," "sempiternal hellfire"). You might talk about sempiternal principles, ideals, and questions; sempiternal adoration, appreciation, and remembrance; sempiternal sights and sounds; sempiternal contempt and hatred; sempiternal work, labor, and struggles; sempiternal monotony; and sempiternal problems and issues. Sometimes, we'll use "sempiternal" to emphasize how something is not only ever-present but also dull, routine, and unimaginative. Here's F. Scott Fitzgerald: "She would change her breakfasts, she thought—have a lemonade and a tomato sandwich instead of the sempiternal bacon and eggs and toast." examples: Once, a friend brought me along to his youth group. I stood fiddling with my watch while the other teens sang and shouted, their eyes focused upward on some source of sempiternal glory that I was blind to. If you teach history or advanced math, I bet you're ready for that sempiternal question: "When will we use this in real life?" study it now: Look away from the screen to explain the definition in your own words. You’ll know you understand what "sempiternal" means when you can explain it without saying "timeless" or "aeonian." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "In my memory, (a certain beloved place, event, or time period) is/are bursting with (some wonderful sight, sound, scent, or taste), sempiternally (bright, joyful, festive, or thrilling, etc.)." Example: "In my memory, summers by the lake are bursting with the scent of wet life jackets and canoe paddles and the taste of grape ice pops, sempiternally joyful." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. License Plate Words! You’ve spotted a cluster of three letters on a license plate. Keep all three letters together—don’t insert any letters between them—but add any letters you like to the left and/or right of the cluster to form words. For example, when you spot the cluster CKG, you can form BACKGROUND and BACKGAMMON (and all their related words, like BACKGROUNDER and BACKGAMMONING, for a total of 8 possible words). We’ll move from easy to hard clusters as the month goes on. (For the curious, you can generate a complete list of answers using a tool like this one.) Let's play! Our previous question: If you spot the cluster JOC, you can use it to form 12 words. Give yourself a minute or so. Can you think of some? Answers: You may have thought of DISK-JOCKEY, JOCK, JOCKEY, and/or JOCULAR. Try this today: If you spot the cluster EDP, you can use it to form 9 words. Give yourself a minute or so. Can you think of some? review today's word: 1. The opposite of SEMPITERNAL is A. ABJECT B. SUBTLE C. TEMPORARY 2. They are incapable of _____, trapped as they are in the sempiternity of middle school and its all-consuming struggles. A. honest self-reflection B. planning seriously for the future C. imagining themselves in other people's shoes Answers are below. a final word: To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact Liesl at Liesl@HiloTutor.com Disclaimer: Word meanings presented here are expressed in plain language and are limited to common, useful applications only. Readers interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words are encouraged to check a dictionary. Likewise, word meanings, usage, and pronunciations are limited to American English; these elements may vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B