Endless, a.
Etymology: [AS. endeleás. See End.]
1. Without end; having no end or conclusion; perpetual; interminable; -- applied to length, and to duration; as, an endless line; endless time; endless bliss; endless praise; endless clamor.
2. Infinite; excessive; unlimited. Shak.
3. Without profitable end; fruitless; unsatisfying. [R.] "All loves are endless." Beau. & Fl.
4. Void of design; objectless; as, an endless pursuit. Endless chain, a chain which is made continuous by uniting its two ends. -- Endless screw. (Mech.) See under Screw.
1 more senses
Syn. -- Eternal; everlasting; interminable; infinite; unlimited; incessant; perpetual; uninterrupted; continual; unceasing; unending; boundless; undying; imperishable.
Shades of meaning
Fernald has no entry of its own for endless; he lists it under eternal.
Where he writes about it:
Eternal strictly signifies without beginning or end, in which sense it applies to God alone; everlasting applies to that which may or may not have beginning, but will never cease; eternal is also used in this more limited sense; endless, without end, in its utmost reach, is not distinguishable from everlasting; but endless is constantly used in inferior senses, especially in mechanics, as in the phrases an endless screw, an endless chain. — from eternal
Everlasting and endless are both used in a limited sense of protracted, indefinite, but not infinite duration; as, the everlasting hills; endless debates; so we speak of interminable quarrels. — from eternal
Everlasting, endless, and eternal may be applied to that which has no life; as, everlasting chains, endless night, eternal death; immortal applies to that which now has life, and is forever exempt from death. — from eternal