permanence

English

Etymology

From Middle English permanence, permanens, from Middle French permanence, from Medieval Latin permanentia, from Latin permaneō (“I remain; last”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜɹmənəns/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜmənəns/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

permanence (countable and uncountable, plural permanences)

1. The state of being permanent.
   • 1923 February 11, Mme. X. [pseudonym], “News of Chicago Society: Now That War’s Over, On with Full Dress, Men”, in The Chicago Sunday Tribune, final edition, volume LXXXII, number 6, Chicago, Ill., →ISSN, →OCLC, part 7, page 5, columns 6–7:

     To foreigners we often seem guileless and overchatty, an impression which is dispersed when they find that much of our friendliness is just the ebullition of the moment and does not carry with it any permanence of devotion.

   • 2025 September 17, Conrad Landin, “Decarbonising Scottish transport”, in RAIL, number 1044, page 39:

     Transport Scotland acknowledges that the permanence of the new fares regime could be the clincher in persuading people to "travel more often and make long-term choices with certainty, helping people to leave the car at home".

2. (physics) The reciprocal of magnetic inductance.

Synonyms

• (state): perdurance, remanence; see also Thesaurus:permanence

Antonyms

• (antonym(s) of “state”): transience
• (antonym(s) of “state”): impermanence

Derived terms

• object permanence
• semipermanence

Related terms

• impermanence
• permanent

Translations

the state of being permanent

• Arabic: دَوَام (ar) m (dawām)
• Armenian: մնայունություն (hy) (mnayunutʻyun), մշտականություն (hy) (mštakanutʻyun)
• Bulgarian: неизменност (bg) f (neizmennost), постоянство (bg) n (postojanstvo)
• Catalan: permanència f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 永久性 (zh) (yǒngjiǔxìng), 永恆性 / 永恒性 (zh) (yǒnghéngxìng)

• Finnish: pysyvyys (fi)
• French: permanence (fr) f
• German: Permanenz (de) f, Dauerhaftigkeit f
• Greek: μονιμότητα (el) f (monimótita), σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)
• Hindi: स्थायित्व (hi) (sthāyitva)
• Hungarian: állandóság (hu), maradandóság (hu), tartósság (hu)
• Ido: permano (io)
• Irish: buaine f, marthanaí f, síoraíocht f
• Japanese: 永続 (ja) (えいぞく, eizoku), 永久 (ja) (えいきゅう, eikyū)
• Korean: 영구성 (yeongguseong)
• Māori: turuturu
• Middle English: stedefastnesse
• Polish: permanencja (pl) f
• Portuguese: permanência (pt) f
• Russian: постоя́нство (ru) n (postojánstvo)
• Spanish: permanencia (es) f
• Swedish: beständighet (sv)
• Vietnamese: sự thường xuyên

the reciprocal of magnetic inductance

French

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin permanentia, from Latin permaneō (“to remain; last”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.ma.nɑ̃s/

Noun

permanence f (plural permanences)

1. permanence (state of being permanent)
2. homeroom (classroom or classes)

Derived terms

• en permanence

Related terms

• permanent
• impermanence

Descendants

• → Romanian: permanență

Further reading

• “permanence”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012