forever

Etymology

From Middle English for ever, for evere, equivalent to for + ever.

adv

1. (duration) For all time, for all eternity; for a lifetime; for an infinite amount of time.
   I shall love you forever.
   Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever, unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion. 1839, Denison Olmsted, A Compendium of Astronomy, page 95
   If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face &emdash; for ever. 1949, George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four
2. (duration, colloquial, hyperbolic) For a very long time, a seeming eternity.
   She and Serena had been friends forever. Or nearly forever: forty-two years, beginning with Miss Kimmel's first grade. 1988, Anne Tyler, chapter 1, in Breathing Lessons
   We had to wait forever to get inside.
   That was forever ago.
3. (frequency) Constantly or frequently.
   You are forever nagging me.

noun

1. An extremely long time.
   I haven't seen him in forever!
   It took me forever to make up my mind.
   Don't spend forever on the phone!
   It's been a fortnight of forevers since the Braves could count on a late-game comeback. 2001 September, Michael Knisley, “The Braves' last stand”, in Sporting News, volume 225, number 36, page 12
   In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers, the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull. 2007, Ruth O'Callaghan, Where acid has etched
2. (colloquial) A mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.
   Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever.

adj

1. Permanent, lasting; constant, perpetual.
   It'd be a peaceful life / With a forever wife / And a kid someday 1971, Bruce Johnston, "Disney Girls (1957)"
   We'll take care of you and help you find a Forever Home. 2009, Kathy Kadilak, Tommy Finds His Forever Home, page 3
   He is a forever friend. 2012, Brad Hicks, For Every Fear a Promise, page 96
   Danner posits that the United States has been trapped in a "forever war" by 9/11, and describes a nation that has been altered in fundamental ways by President Bush's having declared a war of choice and without an exit plan, […] 2016, Mark Danner, Spiral: Trapped in the Forever War