We do not assume in language that there is some objective authoritative "meaning" or "definition" that prescribes what a word can or must mean. We honor the language and its cultural integrity. What we do is look at how we find a word being used. So we first need to take a step back to look at the cultural or worldview concept. Inadequate assumptions about words, language and meaning can mislead us from the beginning. This what makes human speech so creative, dynamic, expressive and flexible. Keep in mind that a "definition" is only a summary of how a word has been used. First of all, a word in one language and the culture it represents does not "mean" a word or the cultural concept it carries in another language. Let's get in focus some working principles of languages, meaning and translation. The problems in interpreting it as the English “eternal” or “everlasting” are several. I understand the meaning of the word aionios (often appearing in genitive plural aionion) in Greek to carry the connotation of 'pertaining to the age' or 'age enduring.' The word is a form of the word we have borrowed into English from the Latin transliteration of the Greek as aeon or eon. They questioned the translation or definition of the Greek word with the English word "eternal" or "everlasting." Two readers wrote with similar questions about the Greek word aionios as it appears in the Bible. Time or Character, The Ages or A Time Sequence in aionios Time or Character, The Ages or A Time Sequence in aionios: How Words "Mean" in Greek and English Orville Jenkins Articles Menu