Skip to the word

Added 8 October 2026

permanent

/ˈpɜː.mə.nənt/ adjective

In Latin: aeternus First recorded: 15th century Wiktionary

adjective Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about permanent at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

Without end, eternal.
Nothing in this world is truly permanent.
Lasting for an indefinitely long time.
The countries are now locked in a permanent state of conflict.

noun

A chemical hair treatment imparting or removing curliness, whose effects typically last for a period of weeks; a perm.
Given an n×n matrix aij, the sum over all permutations π of ∏i=1naiπ(i).
A card whose effects persist beyond the turn on which it is played.

verb

To perm (the hair).

Origin

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

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word