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Immortality

Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary | 1986 | Copyright

352. Immortality (See also Agelessness.)

Admetus granted everlasting life when wife Alcestis dies in his place. [Gk. Myth.: NCE, 54]
amber axe symbol of everlasting life. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 82]
ambrosia food of gods; bestows immortality. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary ]
amrita beverage conferring immortality. [Hindu Myth.: Parrinder, 19]
ankh talisman ensuring everlasting life. [Egyptian Myth.: Jobes, 99]
apples of perpetual youth admit Norse gods to eternal life. [Norse Myth.: Benét, 43]
Calypso promises Odysseus eternal youth and immortality if he will stay with her forever. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 166]
cedar symbol of everlasting life. [Western Folklore: Jobes, 301]
Chiron immortal centaur. [Gk. Myth.: Kravitz, 58]
cicada symbol of eternal life. [Chinese Folklore: Jobes, 338]
cypress symbol of eternal life. [Flower Symbolism: Jobes, 402]
cypress coffin symbolizes everlasting life; used for burials of heroes. [Gk. and Egyptian Folklore: Leach, 272]
fan palm emblem of eternal life among early Christians. [Plant Symbolism: Embolden, 25–26]
globe amaranth flower of immortality. [Flower Symbolism: Flora Symbolica, 172]
greybeard-grow-young magical lake plant; its scent conferred everlasting life. [Babyl. Myth.: Gilgamesh ]
ichor flows through the veins of gods instead of blood. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary ]
Luggnagg imaginary island; inhabitants immortal but lack immortal health. [Br. Lit.: Gulliver’s Travels ]
nectar drink of gods; bestows eternal life. [Gk. and Rom. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 75)]
nightingale immortal bird whose voice has been heard from time immemorial. [Br. Poetry: Keats “Ode to a Nightingale”]
scarab dung-beetle; said to carry secret of eternal life. [Egyptian Legend: Brewer Dictionary, 967]
serpent sheds skin to renew its life. [Gk. Myth.: Gaster, 37]
Struldbrugs race “cursed” with gift of deathlessness. [Br. Lit.: Gulliver’s Travels ]
Tithonus given eternal life but not eternal youth. [Gk. Myth.: Brewer Dictionary, 1087]
tree of life eat of its fruit and live forever. [O.T.: Genesis, 3:22]
Utnapishtim blessed by Enlil with everlasting life. [Babyl. Myth.: Gilgamesh ]
Wandering Jew doomed to live forever for scorning Jesus. [Fr. Lit.: The Wandering Jew ]
Xanthus and Balius Achilles’ divine horses. [Gk. Lit.: Iliad ]
yew traditionally planted in churchyards; symbol of deathlessness. [Br. Legend: Brewer Dictionary, 1171]

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"Immortality." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Immortality." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505500361.html

"Immortality." Allusions--Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic Dictionary. 1986. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-2505500361.html

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immortality

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church | 2000 | | Copyright

immortality. Though not a specifically Christian doctrine, the hope of immortality is an integral element in Christian belief. In pre-Christian times Greek philosophers had inferred the existence of the soul before birth and its survival of death, and had regarded the body as a prison-house from which death brought the release of the soul into a fuller existence. Early Hebrew thought about the next world hardly went beyond the conception of a shadowy existence in Sheol, but in later pre-Christian Judaism a greater sense of the reality of the future life developed. The essential shape which the doctrine assumed in Christianity arose from the fact of Christ's Resurrection. No longer was the highest destiny of man seen as the survival of an immortal soul, but as a life of union with the risen Christ which would reach completion only with the reunion of soul and body. Since the late-18th cent. the traditional arguments have been challenged, notably by I. Kant; he held that it was beyond the competence of ‘theoretical reason’ to establish the soul's immortality or otherwise, but he argued that it could be established on the ground of moral experience, i.e. through ‘practical reason’. The abiding character of the moral law and the manifest injustices of the present life were a sure index that there was a purer life in which these injustices would be remedied. A similar line of argument has been adopted by many modern apologists. See also RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD and CONDITIONAL IMMORTALITY.

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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "immortality." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "immortality." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-immortality.html

E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "immortality." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-immortality.html

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immortality

The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed. | 2011 | Copyright

immortality attribute of deathlessness ascribed to the soul in many religions and philosophies. Forthright belief in immortality of the body is rare. Immortality of the soul is a cardinal tenet of Islam and is held generally in Judaism, although it is not an essentially Jewish idea. The ancient Greeks and Romans believed in an afterlife, in which the souls of men lived on, but generally only the gods were considered truly immortal. The ancient Celts believed firmly in immortality. In the East, Zoroastrianism posited immortality. The religions arising in India (Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism) generally consider individual immortality undesirable and believe in reincarnation of men as a chain eventually leading to reunion with the infinite (Nirvana). Christianity teaches the resurrection of the body (in the sense of survival of personality) as well as immortality of the soul. See spiritism ; heaven ; hell .

Bibliography: See C. J. Caes, Beyond Time: Ideas of the Great Philosophers on Eternal Existence and Immortality (1985); P. and L. Badham, Death and Immortality in the Religions of the World (1987).

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immortal

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English | 2009 | Copyright

im·mor·tal / i(m)ˈmôrtl/ • adj. living forever; never dying or decaying: our mortal bodies are inhabited by immortal souls. ∎ deserving to be remembered forever: the immortal children's classic, “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.” • n. an immortal being, esp. a god of ancient Greece or Rome. ∎ a person of enduring fame: he will always be one of the immortals of hockey. ∎ (Immortals) hist. the royal bodyguard of ancient Persia. ∎ (Immortal) a member of the French Academy. DERIVATIVES: im·mor·tal·i·ty / ˌi(m)ˌmôrˈtalitē/ n. im·mor·tal·ly adv.

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"immortal." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"immortal." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-immortal.html

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Immortality (Magazine)

Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology | 2001 | Copyright

Immortality (Magazine)

Spiritualist monthly "for progressive thinking people," founded in 1919 as the official organ of the General Assembly of Spiritualists, New York. It continued publication into the 1930s.

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"Immortality (Magazine)." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Immortality (Magazine)." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403802311.html

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immortal

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology | 1996 | | Copyright

immortal XIV. — L. immortālis, f. IM-2 + mortālis MORTAL.
So sb. XVII. immortality XIV. — (O)F. — L. immortelle everlasting flower. XIX. — F.

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T. F. HOAD. "immortal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

T. F. HOAD. "immortal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-immortal.html

T. F. HOAD. "immortal." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-immortal.html

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Immortality

Encyclopedia of Science and Religion | 2003 | Copyright

Immortality

See Life after Death

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"Immortality." Encyclopedia of Science and Religion. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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Immortality

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions | 1997 | | Copyright

Immortality: see AFTERLIFE.

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JOHN BOWKER. "Immortality." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

JOHN BOWKER. "Immortality." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-Immortality.html

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immortal

immortal •battle, cattle, chattel, embattle, prattle, rattle, Seattle, tattle •fractal •cantle, covenantal, mantel, mantle, Prandtl •pastel • Fremantle • tittle-tattle •startle, stratal •Nahuatl •fettle, kettle, metal, mettle, nettle, petal, Popocatépetl, settle •dialectal, rectal •dental, gentle, mental, Oriental, parental, rental •transeptal •festal, vestal •gunmetal •antenatal, fatal, hiatal, natal, neonatal, ratel •beetle, betel, chital, decretal, fetal •blackbeetle •acquittal, belittle, brittle, committal, embrittle, it'll, kittle, little, remittal, skittle, spittle, tittle, victual, whittle •edictal, rictal •lintel, pintle, quintal •Bristol, Chrystal, crystal, pistol •varietal • coital • phenobarbital •orbital • pedestal • sagittal • vegetal •digital • skeletal • Doolittle •congenital, genital, primogenital, urogenital •capital • lickspittle • hospital • marital •entitle, mistitle, recital, requital, title, vital •subtitle • surtitle •axolotl, bottle, dottle, glottal, mottle, pottle, throttle, wattle •fontal, horizontal •hostel, intercostal, Pentecostal •greenbottle • bluebottle • Aristotle •chortle, immortal, mortal, portal •Borstal •anecdotal, sacerdotal, teetotal, total •coastal, postal •subtotal •brutal, footle, pootle, refutal, rootle, tootle •buttle, cuttle, rebuttal, scuttle, shuttle, subtle, surrebuttal •buntal, contrapuntal, frontal •crustal • societal • pivotal •hurtle, kirtle, myrtle, turtle

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"immortal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 1 Jun. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"immortal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (June 1, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-immortal.html

"immortal." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved June 01, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-immortal.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

	Immortal Engines: Life Extension and Immortality in Science Fiction and... Magazine article from: Utopian Studies; 3/22/1998
	The Immortality Edge: Realize the Secrets of Your Telomeres for a Longer,... Magazine article from: Life Extension; 1/1/2011
	In Defense of Immortality. Magazine article from: First Things: A Monthly Journal of Religion and Public Life; 8/1/2000