constancy

[ kon-stuhn-see ]

noun

1. the quality of being unchanging or unwavering, as in purpose, love, or loyalty; firmness of mind; faithfulness.

   Synonyms: devotion, loyalty, fealty, fidelity, resolution

   Antonyms: infidelity, irresolution

2. uniformity or regularity, as in qualities or conditions; invariableness.

   Synonyms: dependability, permanence

   Antonyms: variability

ˈconstancy

/ ˈkɒnstənsɪ /

noun

1. the quality of having a resolute mind, purpose, or affection; steadfastness
2. freedom from change or variation; stability
3. psychol the perceptual phenomenon in which attributes of an object appear to remain the same in a variety of different presentations, e.g., a given object looks roughly the same size regardless of its distance from the observer
4. ecology the frequency of occurrence of a particular species in sample plots from a plant community

Word History and Origins

Origin of constancy¹

From the Latin word constantia, dating back to 1520–30; constant, -ancy

Example Sentences

The Harvard team planned to create an illusion—to put the “con” in color constancy.

From The Daily Beast

Since color vision does rely, at least in part, on color constancy, well, that could actually solve some complicated problems.

From The Daily Beast

Homeostasis says that living systems resist change and desire constancy above all else.

From Outside Online

“The key goal of regulation is not rigid constancy,” writes Sterling.

From Outside Online

In its constancy, it became all the more comforting for the legions of fans who turned to “Jeopardy!”

From Washington Post

Well, McConnell made Romney look like an ironman of forthright constancy.

From The Daily Beast

It conveys the constancy and consistency of the alliance, a special relationship.

From The Daily Beast

She left her son with one place to go: in search of a constancy, a definition he had never known.

From The Daily Beast

The preoccupation with “middle class” constancy strikes me as obsessive.

From The Daily Beast

The bad feelings are mainly about values, style and constancy more than policy.

From The Daily Beast

World-weary and sick at heart, they still struggled to sustain each other, and to meet their dreadful fate with heroic constancy.

From Project Gutenberg

Arcite is supposed to have worn white, red, or green; but he did not wear blue, for that was the colour of constancy.

From Project Gutenberg

Both here and in the Squieres Tale we find the allusions to Lamech, and to blue as the colour of constancy; see notes to ll.

From Project Gutenberg

He was kept a long time in prison, twice racked by order of the council, and every effort was made to shake his constancy.

From Project Gutenberg

The constancy and danger of a twenty years' passion is a subject upon which I hardly know how to be serious.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• dependability
• perseverance
• steadfastness
• steadiness
• trustworthiness
• truthfulness