Adjacent Words

Permanent definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

PER'MANENT, a. [L.permanens, permaneo,per and maneo, to remain.]
Durable; lasting; continuing in the same state, or without any change that destroys the form or nature of the thing. The laws, like the character of God, are unalterably permanent. Human laws and institutions may be to a degree permanent, but they are subject to change and overthrow. We speak of a permanent wall or building, a permanent bridge, when they are so constructed as to endure long; in which examples,permanent is equivalent to durable or lasting, but not to undecaying or unalterable. So we say, a permanent residence, a permanent intercourse, permanent friendship,when it continues a long time without interruption.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: continuing or enduring without marked change in status or condition or place; "permanent secretary to the president"; "permanent address"; "literature of permanent value" [syn: permanent, lasting] [ant: impermanent, temporary]
2: not capable of being reversed or returned to the original condition; "permanent brain damage" n
1: a series of waves in the hair made by applying heat and chemicals [syn: permanent wave, permanent, perm]

Merriam Webster's

I. adjective Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French parmanant, from Latin permanent-, permanens, present participle of perman?re to endure, from per- throughout + man?re to remain — more at per-, mansion Date: 15th century continuing or enduring without fundamental or marked change ; stable Synonyms: see lasting • permanently adverb • permanentness noun II. noun Date: 1925 a long-lasting hair wave or straightening produced by mechanical and chemical means — called also permanent wave

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. lasting, or intended to last or function, indefinitely (opp. TEMPORARY). Phrases and idioms: permanent magnet a magnet retaining its magnetic properties without continued excitation. Permanent Secretary (or Under-secretary etc.) Brit. a senior grade in the Civil Service, often a permanent adviser to a minister. permanent set 1 the irreversible deformation of a substance after being subjected to stress. 2 the amount of this. permanent tooth a tooth succeeding a milk tooth in a mammal, and lasting most of the mammal's life. permanent wave an artificial wave in the hair, intended to last for some time. permanent way Brit. the finished roadbed of a railway. Derivatives: permanence n. permanency n. permanentize v.tr. (also -ise). permanently adv. Etymology: ME f. OF permanent or L permanere (as PER-, manere remain)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Permanent Per"ma*nent, a. [L. permanens, -entis, p. pr. of permanere to stay or remain to the end, to last; per + manere to remain: cf. F. permanent. See Per-, and Mansion.] Continuing in the same state, or without any change that destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved; abiding; durable; fixed; stable; lasting; as, a permanent impression. Eternity stands permanent and fixed. --Dryden. Permanent gases (Chem. & Physics), hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide; -- also called incondensible or incoercible gases, before their liquefaction in 1877.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(permanents) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Something that is permanent lasts for ever. Heavy drinking can cause permanent damage to the brain... The ban is intended to be permanent. ? temporary ADJ • permanently His reason had been permanently affected by what he had witnessed... ? temporarily ADV: ADV with v, ADV adj • permanence Anything which threatens the permanence of the treaty is a threat to peace. N-UNCOUNT 2. You use permanent to describe situations or states that keep occurring or which seem to exist all the time; used especially to describe problems or difficulties. ...a permanent state of tension... They feel under permanent threat... = constant ADJ: usu ADJ n • permanently ...the heavy, permanently locked gate. ADV 3. A permanent employee is one who is employed for an unlimited length of time. ...a permanent job. ? temporary ADJ: ADJ n • permanently ...permanently employed registered dockers. ADV: ADV with v 4. Your permanent home or your permanent address is the one at which you spend most of your time or the one that you return to after having stayed in other places. York Cottage was as near to a permanent home as the children knew... ADJ: ADJ n 5. A permanent is a treatment where a hair stylist curls your hair and treats it with a chemical so that it stays curly for several months. (AM; in BRIT, use perm) N-COUNT

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Lasting, abiding, fixed, enduring, continuing, durable, stable, steadfast, unchangeable, unchanging, immutable, perpetual, invariable, constant, persistent.

Moby Thesaurus

Afro, abiding, age-long, aged, ageless, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, ancient, antique, assiduous, boundless, ceaseless, changeless, chronic, coeternal, coif, coiffure, cold wave, conk, constant, continual, continuing, continuous, creating, creative, dateless, diligent, diuturnal, dogged, durable, endless, enduring, eternal, eternally the same, eterne, ever-being, ever-durable, ever-during, evergreen, everlasting, everliving, faithful, firm, fixed, frozen, glorious, good, haircut, hairdo, hairstyle, hallowed, hardy, headdress, highest, holy, home permanent, immemorial, immobile, immortal, immutable, imperishable, inalterable, incessant, incommutable, inconvertible, indefatigable, indefeasible, indestructible, indomitable, industrious, inert, infinite, insistent, insusceptible of change, intact, interminable, intransient, intransmutable, invariable, inveterate, invincible, inviolate, irretrievable, irreversible, irrevocable, just, lasting, limitless, long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval, longevous, loving, loyal, luminous, macrobiotic, majestic, making, merciful, natural, never-ceasing, never-ending, never-tiring, noble, nonreturnable, nonreversible, nonstop, nonterminating, nonterminous, numinous, obstinate, of long duration, of long standing, olamic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one, patient, patient as Job, perdurable, perduring, perennial, permanent wave, perpetual, perseverant, persevering, persistent, persisting, pertinacious, plodding, plugging, preoccupied, process, quiescent, radiant, rapt, relentless, remaining, resolute, reverseless, rigid, sacred, sedulous, sempervirent, sempiternal, shaping, single-minded, sleepless, slogging, solid, sovereign, stable, static, stationary, staying, steadfast, steady, stubborn, supreme, sustained, tenacious, timeless, tireless, torpid, tough, ubiquitous, unabating, unalterable, unalterative, unaltered, unbounded, unceasing, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging, unchecked, unconquerable, undaunted, undefined, undeflectable, undestroyed, undeviating, undiscouraged, undrooping, undying, unending, unfading, unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging, unflinching, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unlimited, unmodifiable, unnodding, unrelaxing, unrelenting, unremitting, unrestorable, unreturnable, unshifting, unsleeping, unsusceptible, unswerving, untiring, unvariable, unvaried, unvarying, unwavering, unwearied, unwearying, unwinking, utterly attentive, vital, wave, weariless, without end