constancy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin constantia.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnstənsi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnstənsi/

• Audio (Berkshire, England)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧stan‧cy

Noun

constancy (usually uncountable, plural constancies)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being constant; steadiness or faithfulness in action, affections, purpose, etc.
   • c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act II, scene ii]:

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

   • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:

     Punctuality is a species of Constancy, a very unfashionable quality in a Lady.

   • 1814 July, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: […], volume III, London: […] 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, “7, "On the Races of Man,"”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Murray, […], OCLC 156113994:

     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.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s VVell, that Ends VVell”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act I, 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
• Italian: costanza (it) f
• Latin: firmitas f, firmitudo f
• Macedonian: постојаност f (postojanost)
• Maori: tūmautanga
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Russian: постоя́нство (ru) n (postojánstvo)
• Sanskrit: धृति (sa) f (dhṛti)
• 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.