endless

Endless is an English adjective meaning without an end or having no limit. It is used to describe something that appears to continue forever, or something that seems interminable or boundless. In everyday language it often conveys perception rather than a precise measure, as in endless rain or an endless journey. In technical contexts it may describe processes that do not terminate, such as an endless loop in computer programming or a repetitive procedure that continues until external intervention occurs.

Endless is commonly contrasted with finite or terminable. While infinite and eternal convey absolute, mathematical or philosophical concepts, endless implies a practical or subjective perception of continuation rather than a defined bound.

The word is formed from end plus the suffix -less, meaning "without." Its sense of without end is attested in Middle English and it has since become a stable part of the English lexicon.

In literature and everyday usage, endless is frequently used to evoke scale or possibility, as in endless horizons or endless possibilities. It also appears in figurative phrases such as “an endless task” or “the endless night,” and in idioms describing repetition or persistence.

See also infinity, eternity, interminable, perpetual motion.