the eternal fitness of things
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
The congruity between an action and the agent. Can any man have a higher notion of the rule of right, and the eternal fitness of things? — FIELDING: Tom Jones, Bk. iv, ch. iv.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “the eternal fitness of things” mean?
The congruity between an action and the agent. Can any man have a higher notion of the rule of right, and the eternal fitness of things? — FIELDING: Tom Jones, Bk. iv, ch. iv.
Is “the eternal fitness of things” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.