also: まんだい · よろずよ
eternity; thousands of years; all generations
Literary or formal word for a vast span of time, often used in poetic or philosophical contexts to mean 'for all ages' or 'forever'.
This teaching should be passed down for all generations.
I pray for eternal peace.
Standard kanji spelling; reading ばんだい is the most common.
Alternate reading; less common than ばんだい.
Alternate kanji form with the reading よろずよ; archaic or literary feel.
Alternate kanji form; can also be read ばんだい, but 万代 is more common.
Compound of 万 (ten thousand, myriad) and 代 (age, generation), literally 'ten thousand generations'. The reading よろずよ uses the native Japanese reading of 万 (よろず) and 世 (よ).