never-ending

The compound adjective 'never-ending' is a transparent and relatively modern English formation, built from two fundamental Germanic elements. The first part, 'never', originates from Old English, solidifying the concept of absolute negation across time. The second part, 'ending', derives from the Old English verb for bringing something to a conclusion. When combined, the literal sense is "not ever coming to a conclusion." This logical fusion creates a powerful and enduring metaphor for describing processes, states, or phenomena perceived as having no terminus, effectively capturing the abstract concept of infinite continuity or perpetual recurrence.

Structure: never (not ever) + ending (coming to an end) - never: From Old English nǣfre, a compound of ne (not) + ǣfre (ever). It functions as an adverb of negation and time. - ending: From Old English endian (to end, finish), derived from ende (end). The suffix -ing forms the present participle/gerund, here used adjectivally.