PERPETUAL. That which is to last without limitation as to time; as, a perpetual statute, which is one without limit as to time, although not expressed to be so.

Source: Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856)
 

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. [1913 Webster]

Unto the kingdom of perpetual night. --Shak. [1913 Webster]

Perpetual feast of nectared sweets. --Milton. [1913 Webster]

Circle of perpetual apparition, or Circle of perpetual 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. [1913 Webster]

Syn: Continual; unceasing; endless; everlasting; incessant; constant; eternal. See Constant. [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

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: [1913 Webster]
   (a) A charge or burden laid upon persons or property for the support of a government. [1913 Webster]

A farmer of taxes is, of all creditors, proverbially the most rapacious. --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
   (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. [1913 Webster]
   (c) A sum imposed or levied upon the members of a society to defray its expenses. [1913 Webster]

2. A task exacted from one who is under control; a contribution or service, the rendering of which is imposed upon a subject. [1913 Webster]

3. A disagreeable or burdensome duty or charge; as, a heavy tax on time or health. [1913 Webster]

4. Charge; censure. [Obs.]

--Clarendon. [1913 Webster]

5. A lesson to be learned; a task. [Obs.]

--Johnson. [1913 Webster]

Tax cart, a spring cart subject to a low tax. [Eng.]

[1913 Webster]

Syn: Impost; tribute; contribution; duty; toll; rate; assessment; exaction; custom; demand. [1913 Webster] [1913 Webster]

Source: The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
 

184 Moby Thesaurus words for "perpetual": abiding, age-long, aged, ageless, all-comprehensive, all-inclusive, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, ancient, antique, boundless, ceaseless, changeless, chattering, chronic, coeternal, constant, continual, continuing, continuous, countless, creating, creative, dateless, diuturnal, durable, endless, enduring, eternal, eternally the same, eterne, ever-being, ever-durable, ever-during, evergreen, everlasting, everliving, exhaustless, extending everywhere, firm, fixed, frozen, glorious, good, hallowed, hardy, highest, holy, illimitable, illimited, immeasurable, immemorial, immense, immobile, immortal, immutable, incalculable, incessant, incomprehensible, indestructible, inexhaustible, infinite, infinitely continuous, innumerable, intact, interminable, interminate, intransient, invariable, inveterate, inviolate, just, lasting, limitless, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, loving, luminous, machine gun, macrobiotic, majestic, making, measureless, merciful, never-ceasing, never-ending, no end of, nonstop, nonterminating, nonterminous, numinous, of long duration, of long standing, olamic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, oscillating, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent, persistent, persisting, pulsating, quiescent, radiant, rapid, recurrent, regular, remaining, repeated, repetitive, rigid, sacred, sempervirent, sempiternal, shaping, shoreless, solid, sovereign, stable, staccato, static, stationary, staying, steadfast, steady, stuttering, sumless, supreme, sustained, termless, timeless, torpid, tough, ubiquitous, unaltered, unbounded, unbroken, unceasing, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unchecked, uncircumscribed, undefined, undestroyed, undeviating, unending, unfading, unfailing, unfathomable, unintermitted, unintermittent, unintermitting, uninterrupted, universal, unlimited, unmeasurable, unmeasured, unnumbered, unplumbed, unremitting, unshifting, unstopped, untold, unvaried, unvarying, vibrating, vital, without bound, without end, without limit, without measure, without number

Source: Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0
 

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: WordNet (r) 2.0
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)
 

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.

Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)