Obs. rare. [f. as prec. + -IST.] One who believes in the eternal duration of the world.
1684. T. Burnet, Th. Earth, III. 23. Porphyry … had the same Principles with these Æternalists in the Text;… and thought the World never had, nor ever would undergo any change. Ibid., III. 42. Those Eternalists that denyed the doctrine of the change and revolutions of the Natural World.
1721–1800. in Bailey.
1828. in Webster; and in mod. Dicts.
