permanent

English

Etymology

From Middle English permanent, permanente, from Middle French permanent, from Latin permanēns, from permaneō (“I stay through”). First attested in the 15th century.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː.mə.nənt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜɹ.mə.nənt/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)mənənt
• Hyphenation: per‧ma‧nent

Adjective

permanent (comparative more permanent, superlative most permanent)

1. Without end, eternal.

   Nothing in this world is truly permanent.

2. Lasting for an indefinitely long time.

   The countries are now locked in a permanent state of conflict.

Synonyms

• (without end): everlasting, forever, neverending, unending; see also Thesaurus:eternal or Thesaurus:endless
• (lasting for an indefinitely long time): durable, intransient; see also Thesaurus:lasting

Antonyms

• impermanent, temporary

Derived terms

• impermanent
• permanent brain
• permanent dirt
• permanent income hypothesis
• permanent loan
• permanently
• permanent magnet
• permanent marker
• permanent paper
• permanent-press
• permanent press
• permanent private hall
• permanent residency
• permanent resident
• permanent revolution
• permanent revolutionary
• permanent revolutionist
• permanent shave
• permanent tooth
• permanent wave
• permanent way
• permanent white
• semi-permanent
• semipermanent
• there is nothing more permanent than a temporary solution

Related terms

• permafrost
• permatemp

Translations

without end

• Arabic: دَائِم (dāʔim)
• Armenian: մշտական (hy) (mštakan)
• Azerbaijani: daimi (az)
• Belarusian: пастая́нны (be) (pastajánny), ста́лы (stály)
• Bengali: মুদামি (mudami)
• Bulgarian: постоя́нен (bg) (postojánen), безкраен (bg) (bezkraen)
• Catalan: permanent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 永久 (zh) (yǒngjiǔ)

• Crimean Tatar: temelli
• Czech: trvalý (cs)
• Dutch: bestendig (nl), voorgoed (nl), eeuwig (nl), permanent (nl)
• Estonian: püsiv, jääv
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi), ikuinen (fi), jatkuva (fi), kestävä (fi), vakituinen (fi)
• French: permanent (fr)
• Galician: permanente (gl)
• Georgian: მუდმივი (mudmivi), მარადი (maradi), სამუდამო (samudamo), მარადიული (maradiuli)
• German: permanent (de), ständig (de), beständig (de), unbefristet (de), dauerhaft (de)
• Hindi: स्थायी (hi) (sthāyī)
• Hungarian: állandó (hu)
• Ido: permananta (io)
• Indonesian: permanen (id), langgeng (id), kekal (id), abadi (id), daim (id)
• Italian: permanente (it)
• Japanese: 永久の (ja) (えいきゅうの, eikyū-no)
• Korean: 영구적인 (yeonggujeog-in)
• Latin: aeternus (la)
• Malay: kekal (ms)
• Maori: tūturu
• Old English: heahfæst, unateorigendlic, ungewitendlic, unlæne
• Ottoman Turkish: صوڭسز (soñsız), ابدی (ebedî), دایم (daim), موبد (muʿebbed), پاینده (payende, payanda)
• Persian: ماندگار (fa) (mândegâr), پایدار (fa) (pâydâr), جاودان (fa) (jâvdân)
• Polish: stały (pl)
• Portuguese: permanente (pt)
• Russian: постоя́нный (ru) (postojánnyj), неизме́нный (ru) (neizménnyj), пермане́нтный (ru) (permanéntnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: trajan (sh), stalan (sh), vjȅčan (sh)

• Spanish: permanente (es)
• Swedish: ständig (sv)
• Tagalog: palagian; permanente
• Telugu: శాశ్వతం (te) (śāśvataṁ)
• Thai: ถาวร (th) (tǎa-wɔɔn)
• Ukrainian: пості́йний (postíjnyj), ста́лий (stályj)

lasting for an indefinitely long time

• Armenian: մշտական (hy) (mštakan)
• Azerbaijani: daimi (az)
• Bulgarian: дълготраен (bg) (dǎlgotraen)
• Catalan: permanent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 長久 / 长久 (zh) (chángjiǔ)

• Czech: trvalý (cs)
• Danish: varig, permanent (da), blivende
• Esperanto: daŭra
• Estonian: igavene (et), jäädav
• Faroese: varandi, áhaldandi, støðugur
• Finnish: pysyvä (fi), ikuinen (fi), jatkuva (fi), kestävä (fi), vakituinen (fi)
• French: permanent (fr)
• Galician: permanente (gl)
• Georgian: სამუდამო (samudamo), სამარადისო (samaradiso)
• German: ständig (de), permanent (de)
• Hungarian: tartós (hu)
• Icelandic: varanlegur (is)
• Ido: permananta (io)
• Indonesian: langgeng (id), kekal (id), abadi (id), daim (id)
• Italian: permanente (it), fisso (it)
• Latin: statīvus
• Malay:

  Rumi: kekal (ms)

• Malayalam: സ്ഥിര (ml) (sthira), സ്ഥിരമായ (sthiramāya)
• Maori: pūwhenua (referring to settlement and home), pūmau
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: permanent (no), fast (no), varig

  Nynorsk: permanent, fast, varig

• Ottoman Turkish: پاینده (payende, payanda)
• Persian: همیشگی (fa) (hamišegi), بی‌پایان (bi-pâyân)
• Plautdietsch: bestendich
• Polish: permanentny (pl), trwały (pl)
• Portuguese: permanente (pt)
• Russian: долговре́менный (ru) (dolgovrémennyj), пермане́нтный (ru) (permanéntnyj)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: dugotrajan (sh), trȃjan (sh)

• Sindhi: مستقل, دائمي
• Spanish: permanente (es)
• Swedish: varaktig (sv), bestående (sv)
• Tagalog: palagian; permanente
• Telugu: శాశ్వతం (te) (śāśvataṁ)
• Tocharian B: eṃṣketstse

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} konstanta

Noun

permanent (plural permanents)

1. A chemical hair treatment imparting or removing curliness, whose effects typically last for a period of weeks; a perm.
   • 1943, Raymond Chandler, The High Window, Penguin, published 2005, page 8:

     She had pewter-coloured hair set in a ruthless permanent, a hard beak and large moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones.

2. (linear algebra, combinatorics) Given an $n\times n$ matrix $a_{ij}\,$, the sum over all permutations $\pi \,$ of $\prod _{i=1}^{n}{a_{i\pi (i)}}$.
3. (collectible card games) A card whose effects persist beyond the turn on which it is played.

Translations

hair treatment

• Bulgarian: трайно къдрене (trajno kǎdrene)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 燙髮 / 烫发 (zh) (tàngfà), 燙頭 / 烫头 (tàngtóu)

• Danish: permanent (da) c
• Dutch: permanent (nl) m
• Finnish: permanentti (fi), kestokiharat
• French: permanente (fr) f
• German: Dauerwelle (de) f
• Greek: περμανάντ (el) f (permanánt)
• Hungarian: dauer (hu)
• Icelandic: permanent n
• Italian: permanente (it) f, messa in piega f
• Japanese: パーマ (ja) (pāma)
• Korean: 파마 (ko) (pama)
• Polish: trwała (pl) f, trwała ondulacja (pl) f
• Russian: пермане́нт (ru) m (permanént), зави́вка (ru) f (zavívka)

sum over all permutations

• Bulgarian: перманент m (permanent)
• Finnish: permanentti (fi)
• French: permanent (fr)
• German: Permanente f

See also

• determinant
• ephemeral
• relaxer
• temporary

Verb

permanent (third-person singular simple present permanents, present participle permanenting, simple past and past participle permanented)

1. (transitive, dated) To perm (the hair).

Further reading

• “permanent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “permanent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
• “permanent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• Petermann, merpentan

Albanian

Adjective

permanént (feminine permanente)

1. permanent

Catalan

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Central) [pər.məˈnen]
• IPA^(key): (Balearic) [pər.məˈnent]
• IPA^(key): (Valencia) [peɾ.maˈnent]

Adjective

permanent m or f (masculine and feminine plural permanents)

1. permanent

Related terms

• permanència
• permanentment

Further reading

• “permanent”, in Diccionari de la llengua catalana [Dictionary of the Catalan Language] (in Catalan), second edition, Institute of Catalan Studies [Catalan: Institut d'Estudis Catalans], 2007 April

Danish

Etymology

From Latin permanēns

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [pæɐ̯maˈnɛnˀd]

Adjective

permanent (neuter permanent, plural and definite singular attributive permanente)

1. permanent

   Synonyms: vedvarende, stadig, konstant

   Antonym: temporær

Inflection

Inflection of permanent

	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	permanent	—	—2
indefinite neuter singular	permanent	—	—2
plural	permanente	—	—2
definite attributive1	permanente	—	—

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

References

“permanent” in Den Danske Ordbog

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French permanent, from Latin permanēns. The noun is a shortening of permanent hairwave, which was borrowed from English permanent hairwave, and may have been influenced by or borrowed from American English permanent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛr.maːˈnɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧ma‧nent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

Adjective

permanent (not comparable)

1. permanent

   Antonym: tijdelijk

Declension

Declension of permanent
uninflected	permanent
inflected	permanente
comparative	—
		positive
predicative/adverbial		permanent
indefinite	m./f. sing.	permanente
	n. sing.	permanent
	plural	permanente
definite		permanente
partitive		permanents

Derived terms

• permanentie

Descendants

• → Indonesian: permanen, pêrmanèn

Noun

permanent m (plural permanenten, diminutive permanentje n)

1. (chiefly diminutive) perm, permanent, permanent wave [from ca. 1930]
   • 1932 February 6, "Nieuwe kapperszaak", Het Vaderland, vol. 63, evening edition, part 1, page 2.

     In elk kamertje is een keurige kaptafel met de bijbehoorende ingrediënten, knusse hoekjes, echt uitnoodigend tot een genoegelijk permanentje of watergolfje.

     In each cubicle there is a proper hairdressing table with the concomitant ingredients, cozy corners, really inviting for a perm or a setting hairstyle.

   • 1937, H. Kuyper-van Oordt, "Jonker Costijn", in Het heerlijk ambacht, G. F. Callenbach (publ., 6th. print), page 121.

     Wat een lichte jurken, en lichte zomermantels, en permanentjes en nette beenen.

     Such light dresses, and light summer coats, and perms and tidy legs.

Derived terms

• permanenten

French

Etymology

From Middle French permanant, permanent, from Latin permanentem (accusative of permanēns).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.ma.nɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

permanent (feminine permanente, masculine plural permanents, feminine plural permanentes)

1. permanent

Derived terms

• ordre permanent

Noun

permanent m (plural permanents)

1. (mathematics) permanent

Related terms

• permanence
• impermanent

Further reading

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

German

Etymology

Borrowed from French permanent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁmaˈnɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

permanent (strong nominative masculine singular permanenter, not comparable)

1. permanent

Declension

Positive forms of permanent (uncomparable)

number & gender		singular			plural
		masculine	feminine	neuter
predicative		er ist permanent	sie ist permanent	es ist permanent	sie sind permanent
strong declension (without article)	nominative	permanenter	permanente	permanentes	permanente
	genitive	permanenten	permanenter	permanenten	permanenter
	dative	permanentem	permanenter	permanentem	permanenten
	accusative	permanenten	permanente	permanentes	permanente
weak declension (with definite article)	nominative	der permanente	die permanente	das permanente	die permanenten
	genitive	des permanenten	der permanenten	des permanenten	der permanenten
	dative	dem permanenten	der permanenten	dem permanenten	den permanenten
	accusative	den permanenten	die permanente	das permanente	die permanenten
mixed declension (with indefinite article)	nominative	ein permanenter	eine permanente	ein permanentes	(keine) permanenten
	genitive	eines permanenten	einer permanenten	eines permanenten	(keiner) permanenten
	dative	einem permanenten	einer permanenten	einem permanenten	(keinen) permanenten
	accusative	einen permanenten	eine permanente	ein permanentes	(keine) permanenten

Adverb

permanent

1. permanently, incessantly

   Synonyms: ständig, unaufhörlich

Further reading

• “permanent” in Duden online
• “permanent” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache

Ladin

Alternative forms

• permanënt

Adjective

permanent m (feminine singular permanenta, masculine plural permanents, feminine plural permanentes)

1. permanent

Latin

Verb

permanent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of permaneō

Middle French

Adjective

permanent m (feminine singular permanente, masculine plural permanents, feminine plural permanentes)

1. permanent

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

From Latin permanēns.

Adjective

permanent (neuter singular permanent, definite singular and plural permanente)

1. permanent
2. (as an adverb) permanently

References

• “permanent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

From Latin permanēns.

Adjective

permanent (neuter singular permanent, definite singular and plural permanente)

1. permanent

References

• “permanent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French permanent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /per.maˈnent/
• Rhymes: -ent
• Hyphenation: per‧ma‧nent

Adjective

permanent m or n (feminine singular permanentă, masculine plural permanenți, feminine and neuter plural permanente)

1. permanent

Declension

Declension of permanent

		singular				plural
		masculine	neuter	feminine		masculine	neuter	feminine
nominative- accusative	indefinite	permanent		permanentă		permanenți	permanente
	definite	permanentul		permanenta		permanenții	permanentele
genitive- dative	indefinite	permanent		permanente		permanenți	permanente
	definite	permanentului		permanentei		permanenților	permanentelor

Adverb

permanent

1. permanently (forever)

Derived terms

• permanentiza

Related terms

• permanență

See also

• în permanență

References

• “permanent”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2025
• Iorgu Iordan, Alexandru Graur, Ion Coteanu, editors (1978), Dicționarul Limbii Române‎^[1], volume 8, part 2, Bucharest: Academy of the Socialist Republic of Romania, page 452

Swedish

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

permanent (not comparable)

1. permanent

   Antonym: tillfällig

Declension

Inflection of permanent

Indefinite	positive	comparative	superlative1
common singular	permanent	—	—
neuter singular	permanent	—	—
plural	permanenta	—	—
masculine plural2	permanente	—	—
Definite	positive	comparative	superlative
masculine singular3	permanente	—	—
all	permanenta	—	—

¹ The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
² Dated or archaic.
³ Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

Noun

permanent c

1. perm, permanent (a treatment to make hair curly)
2. permed hair

Declension

Declension of permanent

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	permanent	permanents
	definite	permanenten	permanentens
plural	indefinite	permanenter	permanenters
	definite	permanenterna	permanenternas

Related terms

• permanenta

References

• permanent in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• permanent in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)
• permanent in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)