permanent
[pur-muh-nuh nt]
- existing perpetually; everlasting, especially without significant change.
- intended to exist or function for a long, indefinite period without regard to unforeseeable conditions: a permanent employee; the permanent headquarters of the United Nations.
- long-lasting or nonfading: permanent pleating; permanent ink.
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- Also called permanent wave. a wave or curl that is set into the hair by the application of a special chemical preparation and that remains for a number of months.
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Origin of permanent
Synonyms
See more synonyms for permanent on Thesaurus.com1. stable, invariable, constant.
Antonyms
1. temporary; inconstant.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for permanently
Contemporary Examples
The new buildings make them feel claustrophobic, permanently in shadow.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like ScotlandClive Irving
September 17, 2014
We are people who, despite ourselves, find ourselves drawn to the sick, the dying, the permanently bruised.
Underneath, however, lies the permanently molten lava of Scottish memory and its sense of English repression.
But today, four decades later, America acts as if it is permanently at war with itself.
An untold number of gay Iranians, like Ali, tire of the harassment, fear and hiding, and leave Iran permanently.
Historical Examples
Can we expect that this will be suddenly and permanently altered?
If I get the wrong stuff in my eyes it will destroy them permanently.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
The piling is left in permanently if it is not wanted again for use.
General Hastings was permanently disabled by a bullet wound in the leg.
Cleveland Past and PresentMaurice Joblin
But have we a right to infer that it will permanently assert itself?
FreelandTheodor Hertzka
permanent
- existing or intended to exist for an indefinite perioda permanent structure
- not expected to change for an indefinite time; not temporarya permanent condition
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Word Origin
C15: from Latin permanens continuing, from permanēre to stay to the end, from per- through + manēre to remain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for permanently
permanent
adj.
early 15c., from Middle French permanent (14c.) or directly from Latin permanentem (nominative permanens) "remaining," present participle of permanere "endure, hold out, continue, stay to the end," from per- "through" (see per) + manere "stay" (see mansion). As a noun meaning "permanent wave," by 1909. Of clothing, permanent press attested from 1964.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper