Meanings
plural permanences
- countableuncountableThe state of being permanent.
To foreigners we often seem guileless and overchatty, an impression which is dispersed when they find that much of our friendliness is just the ebullition of the moment and does not carry with it any permanence of devotion.
1923 February 11, Mme. X. [pseudonym], “News of Chicago Society: Now That War’s Over, On with Full Dress, Men”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, final edition, volume LXXXII, number 6, Chicago, Ill., →ISSN, →OCLC, part 7, page 5, columns 6–71 more example
Transport Scotland acknowledges that the permanence of the new fares regime could be the clincher in persuading people to "travel more often and make long-term choices with certainty, helping people to leave the car at home".
2025 September 17, Conrad Landin, “Decarbonising Scottish transport”, in RAIL, number 1044, page 39 - countableuncountablenatural sciencesThe reciprocal of magnetic inductance.
Synonyms & antonyms
antonym(s) of “state”
nounthe property of being able to exist for an indefinite duration
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpermaneō“to remain; last”
- Medieval Latinpermanentia
- Middle Frenchpermanence
- Middle Englishpermanence
- Englishpermanence
From Middle English permanence, permanens, from Middle French permanence, from Medieval Latin permanentia, from Latin permaneō (“to remain; last”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَوَام
- دَوَام (dawām)the state of being permanent
Bulgarian неизменност, постоянство
- неизменност (neizmennost)the state of being permanent
- постоянство (postojanstvo)the state of being permanent
Catalan permanència
- permanènciathe state of being permanent
Chinese Mandarin 永久性, 永恆性 /永恒性
- 永久性 (yǒngjiǔxìng)the state of being permanent
- 永恆性 /永恒性 (yǒnghéngxìng)the state of being permanent
Finnish pysyvyys
- pysyvyysthe state of being permanent
French permanence
- permanencethe state of being permanent
German Permanenz, Dauerhaftigkeit
- Permanenzthe state of being permanent
- Dauerhaftigkeitthe state of being permanent
Greek μονιμότητα, σταθερότητα
- μονιμότητα (monimótita)the state of being permanent
- σταθερότητα (statherótita)the state of being permanent
Hindi स्थायित्व
- स्थायित्व (sthāyitva)the state of being permanent
Hungarian állandóság, maradandóság
- állandóságthe state of being permanent
- maradandóságthe state of being permanent
- tartósságthe state of being permanent
Irish buaine, marthanaí
- buainethe state of being permanent
- marthanaíthe state of being permanent
- síoraíochtthe state of being permanent
Japanese 永続, 永久
- 永続 (eizoku)the state of being permanent
- 永久 (eikyū)the state of being permanent
Korean 영구성
- 영구성 (yeongguseong)the state of being permanent
Māori turuturu
- turuturuthe state of being permanent
Polish permanencja
- permanencjathe state of being permanent
Portuguese permanência
- permanênciathe state of being permanent
Russian постоя́нство
- постоя́нство (postojánstvo)the state of being permanent
Spanish permanencia
- permanenciathe state of being permanent
Swedish beständighet
- beständighetthe state of being permanent
Vietnamese sự thường xuyên
- sự thường xuyênthe state of being permanent
Cite this entry
permanence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanence
“permanence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanence. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “permanence,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanence.
Source: permanence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.