constancy

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Etymology

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Borrowed from Latin cōnstantia.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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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, [Act II, scene ii], page 137, column 1:
      A little Water cleares vs of this deed.
      How eaſie is it then? your Conſtancie
      Hath left you vnattended.
    • 1777, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The School for Scandal, IV.iii:
      Punctuality is a species of Constancy, a very unfashionable quality in a Lady.
    • 1814 May 9, [Jane Austen], chapter III, in Mansfield Park: [], volume III, London: [] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, [], →OCLC, 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, “On the Races of Man”, in The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex. [], volume I, London: John Murray, [], →OCLC, Part I (On the Descent of Man), page 214:
      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.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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