constancy

English

Etymology

From Old French constance, from Latin constantia

Noun

constancy (usually uncountable, plural constancies)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being constant; steadiness or faithfulness in action, affections, purpose, etc.
   • c. 1605, William Shakespeare, Macbeth, Act II, Scene 2, [1]

     A little water clears us of this deed: / How easy is it, then! Your constancy / Hath left you unattended.

   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: A Novel. In Three Volumes, volume III, London: Printed for T[homas] Egerton, […], OCLC 39810224, page 68:

     And, I do not know that I should be fond of preaching often; now and then, perhaps, once or twice in the spring, after being anxiously expected for half a dozen Sundays together; but not for a constancy; it would not do for a constancy.

   • 1871, Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, chapter 7 "On the Races of Man,"

     Constancy of character is what is chiefly valued and sought for by naturalists.

   • 2014, James Lambert, “Diachronic stability in Indian English lexis”, in World Englishes, page 124:

     The overall retention rate of 68 per cent indicates a robust constancy of the linguistic features investigated.

2. (countable) An unchanging quality or characteristic of a person or thing.
   • 1602, William Shakespeare, All's Well That Ends Well, Act 1, scene ii:

     younger spirits . . .

     whose constancies

     Expire before their fashions.

Related terms

• constant
• constantly

Translations

The quality of being constant

• Bulgarian: постоянство (bg) n (postojanstvo), устойчивост (bg) f (ustojčivost)
• Finnish: pysyvyys (fi), vakaus (fi), muuttumattomuus (fi)
• French: constance (fr) f
• German: Konstanz (de) f, Beständigkeit (de) f
• Greek: σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)

  Ancient: ἀπλάνεια f (apláneia)

• Irish: diongbháilteacht f, diongbháil f, seasmhacht f
• Latin: firmitas f, firmitudo f

• Macedonian: постојаност f (postojanost)
• Maori: tūmautanga
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Russian: постоя́нство (ru) n (postojánstvo)
• Spanish: constancia (es)
• Tagalog: ligo, kaliguhan

An unchanging quality or characteristic of a person or thing

• Finnish: vakio (fi)
• German: Ausdauer (de) f
• Greek: σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)

• Latin: firmitas, firmitudo f, firmitas f
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Spanish: constancia (es) f

References

• constancy in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• constancy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• “constancy” in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.