Dictionary

deathless en · ADJ

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /ˈdɛθləs/

Etymology

Etymology tree English death Proto-Indo-European *lewh₁- Proto-Indo-European *lewHs-der. Proto-Germanic *leusaną Proto-Germanic *lausaz Proto-Germanic *-lausaz Proto-West Germanic *-laus Old English -lēas Middle English -les English -less English deathless From death + -less.

Meanings

1. Undying or immortal.
   • Athena For mighty is the potency of the revered Erinyes both with the deathless high gods and with the powers of the world below; […] 1926, Herbert Weir Smyth, “Eumenides”, in Aeschylus, with an English translation, volume II, page 363:
   • Like the deathless vampire who must repeat its stalk-and-kill cycle in order to satisfy a recurring blood hunger, the earliest film horrors cannibalized its literary ancestry again and again. 2005, Tony Magistrale, Abject Terrors: Surveying the Modern and Postmodern Horror Film:
   • “Hey, how do I kill this guy anyway?” “Finn, you can't kill my Dad!” “Oh, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean --” “No, you literally can't kill my Dad. He's deathless.” “Oh.” 2010 October 11, Adam Muto & Rebecca Sugar, “It Came from the Nightosphere” (3:15 from the start), in Adventure Time, season 2, episode 1, spoken by Marceline the Vampire Queen (Olivia Olson):
2. (of a work of art, usually) Guaranteed not to be lost or forgotten due to its importance or conspicuous excellence.
   • Her novels are filled with unforgettable characters and deathless prose.
   • Finally, one voice in England proclaimed him a deathless dramatist and portrayer of character (Morgann) (<422). 2000, Jacques Barzun, From Dawn to Decadence, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 516:
   • So, would we get a Gettysburg address for the 21st century? A deathless line like “the only thing we have to fear is fear itself”? 2026 July 5, David Smith, “The strangest show on earth: lightning, imperial hubris and a boring tour of Trump’s rhetorical back alleys”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:
   • "We cannot do less than call it Ixodes Maloni. The very small inconvenience of being bitten, my young friend, cannot, I am sure, weigh with you as against the glorious privilege of having your name inscribed in the deathless roll of zoology." 1912, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Lost World […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

deathlessly · deathlessness

Translations (14)

uk безсмертний (immortal) · ga buanseasmhach (work of art or literature) · grc ἄμβροτος (immortal) · hi अमर (immortal) · ro nemuritor (immortal) · sa अमृत (immortal) · fi kuolematon (immortal) · fi kuolematon (work of art or literature) · el αθάνατος (work of art or literature) · gv neuvarvaanagh (immortal) · grc ἀθάνατος (immortal) · ga neamhbhásmhar (immortal) · el αθάνατος (immortal) · eo senmorta (immortal)