constancy

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin cōnstantia.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈkɑnstənsi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈkɒnstənsi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: con‧stan‧cy

Noun

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.
   • c. 1604–1605 (date written), William Shakespeare, “All’s Well, that Ends Well”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii], page 232, column 2:

     […] yonger ſpirits, […]
     whoſe conſtancies
     Expire before their faſhions: […]

Derived terms

• inconstancy
• nonconstancy

 

Related terms

• constant
• constantly

Translations

quality of being constant

• Bulgarian: постоянство (bg) n (postojanstvo), устойчивост (bg) f (ustojčivost)
• Catalan: constància (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 恒心 (zh) (héngxīn),坚定不移 (zh) (Jiāndìngbùyí)

• Finnish: pysyvyys (fi), vakaus (fi), muuttumattomuus (fi)
• French: constance (fr) f
• German: Konstanz (de) f, Beständigkeit (de) f
• Greek: σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)

  Ancient: ἀπλάνεια f (apláneia)

• Irish: diongbháilteacht f, diongbháil f, seasmhacht f
• Italian: costanza (it) f
• Latin: firmitas f, firmitudo f
• Macedonian: постојаност f (postojanost)
• Maori: tūmautanga
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Russian: постоя́нство (ru) n (postojánstvo)
• Sanskrit: धृति (sa) f (dhṛti)
• Spanish: constancia (es)
• Tagalog: ligo, kaliguhan
• Welsh: cysondeb m

unchanging quality or characteristic of a person or thing

• Finnish: ominaisuus (fi)
• German: Ausdauer (de) f
• Greek: σταθερότητα (el) f (statherótita)
• Latin: firmitas, firmitudo f, firmitas f
• Portuguese: constância (pt) f
• Spanish: constancia (es) f
• Welsh: cysondeb m

References

• constancy in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
• “constancy”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “constancy”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.