Meanings
comparative more permanent · superlative most permanent
- Without end, eternal.
Nothing in this world is truly permanent.
1 more example
Things that had been permanent and unquestionable were suddenly thrown into doubt.
2003, Christopher Paolini, “Dragon Tales”, in Eragon, page 20Synonyms: everlasting
- Lasting for an indefinitely long time.
The countries are now locked in a permanent state of conflict.
Synonyms: durable
plural permanents
- A chemical hair treatment imparting or removing curliness, whose effects typically last for a period of weeks; a perm.
She had pewter-coloured hair set in a ruthless permanent, a hard beak and large moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones.
1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window, Penguin, published 2005, page 8 - combinatoricsGiven an n×n matrix a_ij,, the sum over all permutations π, of ∏ᵢ₌₁ⁿa_iπ(i).
- collectible card gamesA card whose effects persist beyond the turn on which it is played.
present singular third person permanents · participle present permanenting · participle past permanented · past permanented
- datedtransitiveTo perm (the hair).
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveWithout end, eternal.
adjectiveLasting for an indefinitely long time.
More synonyms by meaning
adjectivecontinuing or enduring without marked change in status or condition or place
adjectivenot capable of being reversed or returned to the original condition
nouna series of waves in the hair made by applying heat and chemicals
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latinpermanēns
- Middle Frenchpermanent
- Middle Englishpermanent
- Englishpermanent
From Middle English permanent, permanente, from Middle French permanent, from Latin permanēns, from permaneō (“to stay through”). First attested in the 15th century.
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic دَائِم
- دَائِم (dāʔim)without end
Bengali মুদামি
- মুদামি (mudami)without end
Bulgarian постоя́нен, безкраен
- постоя́нен (postojánen)without end
- безкраен (bezkraen)without end
- дълготраен (dălgotraen)lasting for an indefinitely long time
- трайно къдрене (trajno kădrene)hair treatment
- перманент (permanent)sum over all permutations
Catalan permanent, permanent
- permanentwithout end
- permanentlasting for an indefinitely long time
Chinese Mandarin 永久, 長久 /长久
- 永久 (yǒngjiǔ)without end
- 長久 /长久 (chángjiǔ)lasting for an indefinitely long time
- 燙髮 /烫发 (tàngfà)hair treatment
- 燙頭 /烫头 (tàngtóu)hair treatment
Czech trvalý, trvalý
- trvalýwithout end
- trvalýlasting for an indefinitely long time
Danish varig, permanent
- variglasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanentlasting for an indefinitely long time
- blivendelasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanenthair treatment
Dutch bestendig, voorgoed
- bestendigwithout end
- voorgoedwithout end
- eeuwigwithout end
- permanentwithout end
- permanenthair treatment
Esperanto daŭra
- daŭralasting for an indefinitely long time
Estonian püsiv, jääv
- püsivwithout end
- jäävwithout end
- igavenelasting for an indefinitely long time
- jäädavlasting for an indefinitely long time
Finnish pysyvä, ikuinen
- pysyväwithout end
- ikuinenwithout end
- jatkuvawithout end
- kestäväwithout end
- vakituinenwithout end
- pysyvälasting for an indefinitely long time
- ikuinenlasting for an indefinitely long time
- jatkuvalasting for an indefinitely long time
- kestävälasting for an indefinitely long time
- vakituinenlasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanenttihair treatment
- kestokiharathair treatment
- permanenttisum over all permutations
French permanent, permanent
- permanentwithout end
- permanentlasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanentehair treatment
- permanentsum over all permutations
German permanent, ständig
- permanentwithout end
- ständigwithout end
- beständigwithout end
- unbefristetwithout end
- dauerhaftwithout end
- ständiglasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanentlasting for an indefinitely long time
- Dauerwellehair treatment
- Permanentesum over all permutations
Greek μόνιμος, περμανάντ
- μόνιμος (mónimos)without end
- περμανάντ (permanánt)hair treatment
Hindi अनंत, स्थायी
- अनंत (anant)without end
- स्थायी (sthāyī)without end
- शाश्वत (śāśvat)without end
Hungarian állandó, tartós
- állandówithout end
- tartóslasting for an indefinitely long time
- dauerhair treatment
Icelandic varanlegur, permanent
- varanlegurlasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanenthair treatment
Indonesian permanen, langgeng
- permanenwithout end
- langgengwithout end
- kekalwithout end
- abadiwithout end
- daimwithout end
- langgenglasting for an indefinitely long time
- kekallasting for an indefinitely long time
- abadilasting for an indefinitely long time
- daimlasting for an indefinitely long time
Italian permanente, permanente
- permanentewithout end
- permanentelasting for an indefinitely long time
- fissolasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanentehair treatment
- messa in piegahair treatment
Japanese 永久の, パーマ
- 永久の (eikyū-no)without end
- パーマ (pāma)hair treatment
Korean 영구적인, 파마
- 영구적인 (yeonggujeog-in)without end
- 파마 (pama)hair treatment
Latin aeternus, statīvus
- aeternuswithout end
- statīvuslasting for an indefinitely long time
Malay kekal, kekal
- kekalwithout end
- kekallasting for an indefinitely long time
Māori tūturu, pūwhenua
- tūturuwithout end
- pūwhenualasting for an indefinitely long time
- pūmaulasting for an indefinitely long time
Norwegian Bokmål permanent, fast
- permanentlasting for an indefinitely long time
- fastlasting for an indefinitely long time
- variglasting for an indefinitely long time
Persian ماندگار, پایدار
- ماندگار (mândegâr)without end
- پایدار (pâydâr)without end
- جاودان (jâvdân)without end
- همیشگی (hamišegi)lasting for an indefinitely long time
- بیپایان (bi-pâyân)lasting for an indefinitely long time
Polish stały, permanentny
- staływithout end
- permanentnylasting for an indefinitely long time
- trwałylasting for an indefinitely long time
- trwałahair treatment
- trwała ondulacjahair treatment
Portuguese permanente, permanente
- permanentewithout end
- permanentelasting for an indefinitely long time
Russian постоя́нный, неизме́нный
- постоя́нный (postojánnyj)without end
- неизме́нный (neizménnyj)without end
- пермане́нтный (permanéntnyj)without end
- долговре́менный (dolgovrémennyj)lasting for an indefinitely long time
- пермане́нтный (permanéntnyj)lasting for an indefinitely long time
- пермане́нт (permanént)hair treatment
- зави́вка (zavívka)hair treatment
Spanish permanente, permanente
- permanentewithout end
- permanentelasting for an indefinitely long time
Swedish ständig, varaktig
- ständigwithout end
- varaktiglasting for an indefinitely long time
- beståendelasting for an indefinitely long time
Tagalog palagian, permanente
- palagianwithout end
- permanentewithout end
- palagianlasting for an indefinitely long time
- permanentelasting for an indefinitely long time
Thai ถาวร
- ถาวร (tǎa-wɔɔn)without end
Turkish kalıcı, süregelen
- kalıcıwithout end
- süregelenwithout end
- permahair treatment
- permananthair treatment
Ukrainian пості́йний, ста́лий
- пості́йний (postíjnyj)without end
- ста́лий (stályj)without end
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
permanent. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanent
“permanent.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanent. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “permanent,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/permanent.
Source: permanent on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.