permanent

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

• (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

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.

• (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

• impermanent, temporary

• permafrost
• permatemp

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

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

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

• “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.

• Petermann, merpentan

permanént (feminine permanente)

1. permanent

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

permanent m or f (masculine and feminine plural permanents)

1. permanent

• permanència
• permanentment

• “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], April 2007

From Latin permanēns

• IPA^(key): [pæɐ̯maˈnɛnˀd]

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

1. permanent

   Synonyms: vedvarende, stadig, konstant

   Antonym: temporær

“permanent” in Den Danske Ordbog

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.

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛr.maːˈnɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

permanent (not comparable)

1. permanent

   Antonym: tijdelijk

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

• permanentie

• → Indonesian: permanen, pêrmanèn

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.

• permanenten

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

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.ma.nɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

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

1. permanent

• ordre permanent

permanent m (plural permanents)

1. (mathematics) permanent

• permanence
• impermanent

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

Borrowed from French permanent.

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁmaˈnɛnt/

• Audio:

  (file)

permanent (strong nominative masculine singular permanenter, not comparable)

1. permanent

permanent

1. permanently, incessantly

   Synonyms: ständig, unaufhörlich

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

• permanënt

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

1. permanent

permanent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of permaneō

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

1. permanent

From Latin permanēns.

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

1. permanent
2. (as an adverb) permanently

• “permanent” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

From Latin permanēns.

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

1. permanent

• “permanent” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Borrowed from French permanent.

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

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

1. permanent

permanent

1. permanently (forever)

• permanentiza

• permanență

• în permanență

• “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

• Audio:

  (file)

permanent (not comparable)

1. permanent

   Antonym: tillfällig

permanent c

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

• permanenta

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