permanent

[pur-muh-nuhnt]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR permanent ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

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.

noun

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.

Origin of permanent

1400–50; late Middle English < Latin permanent- (stem of permanēns), present participle of permanēre to remain. See per-, remain, -ent

Related formsper·ma·nent·ly, adverbper·ma·nent·ness, nounnon·per·ma·nent, adjectivenon·per·ma·nent·ly, adverbpseu·do·per·ma·nent, adjectivequa·si-per·ma·nent, adjectivequa·si-per·ma·nent·ly, adverbsub·per·ma·nent, adjectivesub·per·ma·nent·ly, adverbun·per·ma·nent, adjectiveun·per·ma·nent·ly, adverb

Synonyms for permanent

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR permanent ON THESAURUS.COM

1. stable, invariable, constant.

Antonyms for permanent

1. temporary; inconstant.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for permanently

forever, enduringly, lastingly

Examples from the Web for permanently

Contemporary Examples of permanently

The new buildings make them feel claustrophobic, permanently in shadow.
Imagining Prince Charles as King Makes All of Britain Wish They Could Leave Like Scotland
Clive Irving
September 17, 2014
We are people who, despite ourselves, find ourselves drawn to the sick, the dying, the permanently bruised.
The Dirty Secret Doctors Don't Want You To Know
Kent Sepkowitz
August 22, 2014
Underneath, however, lies the permanently molten lava of Scottish memory and its sense of English repression.
Queen Victoria’s Secret Scottish Sex Castle
Clive Irving
August 17, 2014
But today, four decades later, America acts as if it is permanently at war with itself.
Four Decades of Declining Trust in D.C.
Lloyd Green
August 11, 2014
An untold number of gay Iranians, like Ali, tire of the harassment, fear and hiding, and leave Iran permanently.
A Maple Syrup Mecca for Iran’s Gays
Nina Strochlic
August 10, 2014

Historical Examples of permanently

Can we expect that this will be suddenly and permanently altered?
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. 327
Various
If I get the wrong stuff in my eyes it will destroy them permanently.
The Leopard Woman
Stewart Edward White
The piling is left in permanently if it is not wanted again for use.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 497, July 11, 1885
Various
General Hastings was permanently disabled by a bullet wound in the leg.
Cleveland Past and Present
Maurice Joblin
But have we a right to infer that it will permanently assert itself?
Freeland
Theodor Hertzka

British Dictionary definitions for permanently

permanent

adjective

existing or intended to exist for an indefinite perioda permanent structure

not expected to change for an indefinite time; not temporarya permanent condition

Derived Formspermanently, adverb

Word Origin for permanent

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for permanently

adv.

late 15c., from permanent + -ly (2).

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.