interminability

Interminability is the state or quality of having no end, or of seeming to have no end. It can describe the duration of events, processes, experiences, or periods of waiting that feel endless to those involved. The term emphasizes both actual continuation and the subjective impression that termination is distant or unlikely.

Etymology and usage: Interminability derives from Latin interminabilis, from inter- and terminare, meaning “to end.” The noun interminability denotes the condition itself, while the adjective interminable describes something that lasts so long as to seem endless, often with a connotation of tediousness or nuisance.

In practice, interminability is frequently a matter of perception as much as fact. Time can appear to stretch indefinitely when attention is focused on an undesirable task, discomfort, or anticipation of an uncertain outcome. In philosophy and literary criticism, interminability may be invoked to discuss cycles of argument, narrative structures, or systems that resist resolution, or to critique processes perceived as inherently open-ended.

Examples include a meeting that drags on without progress, a letter waiting for a reply, or a drought described as interminable. Although related to the mathematical notion of infinity, interminability centers on duration and experience rather than a precise infinite quantity.

See also: endlessness, infinity, interminable, unending, perpetual.