constancy

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French constance, from Latin constantia

Noun

constancy (plural constancies)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being constant; steadiness or faithfulness in action, affections, purpose, etc.
   • 1871, Charles Darwin, Descent of Man, ch. 7 "On the Races of Man,"

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

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

     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)
• French: constance (fr) f
• German: Konstanz (de) f
• Greek: σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)
• Irish: diongbháilteacht f, diongbháil f, seasmhacht f

• Latin: firmitas f, firmitudo f
• Macedonian: постојаност f (postójanost)
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Russian: постоянство (ru) n (postojánstvo)
• Spanish: constancia (es)

An unchanging quality or characteristic of a person or thing

• 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, v1.0.1, Lexico Publishing Group, 2006.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.