inconstant

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inconstaunt,^[2] borrowed from Old French inconstant (“variable, eccentric”)^[2][3][4] and directly borrowed from Latin incōnstāns (“changeable, fickle”).^[2][4][5] The OED dates the French adjective to 1372,^[6] and in Anglo-Norman it is recorded from about 1360–79.^[7] The Latin word is formed from in- (“not”) and cōnstāns (“standing firm”),^[3][8][9] the present participle of cōnstō (“to stand firm”),^[8] itself from com- (“together”) and stō (“to stand”), from Proto-Indo-European *sta- (“to stand, make or be firm”).^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a person, fickle and not to be relied on: the first record is in Hoccleve's Letter of Cupid (1402), which says of a woman that she "Is fals and inconstant & hath no feith".^[2][6] Etymonline dates the word to about 1400,^[3] and Dictionary.com to 1375–1425.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The word described people, their character and their actions before it described things: "frequently changing, irregular" is recorded from 1526.^[6][4] Johnson (1755) kept the two apart, first the person who is "not steady in affection", then what is "changeable; mutable; variable", the second with Shakespeare's "th' inconstant moon".^[10] For a short time in the 17th century it also meant "inconsistent with", now obsolete.^[6][4][11] The noun, an inconstant person or thing, dates from 1647 and the OED compares the French noun un inconstant.^[6]

Timeline

• 1402 – of a person, fickle, not steadfast.^[2][6]
• 1526 – of things, frequently changing, irregular.^[6]
• 1598 – of the eyes, unsteady, shifting (obsolete).^[6]
• 1642 – inconsistent with (obsolete).^[6]
• 1647 – noun, an inconstant person or thing.^[6]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Likely to change in affection, loyalty or purpose, often for no good reason; fickle: an inconstant suitor.^[12][11][6]
2. Of things, often changing; variable or irregular: an inconstant wind off the bay.^[12][6][4]
3. (obsolete, 1642) Inconsistent with something.^[6][4][11]

Noun

1. An inconstant person or thing.^[6][11][4]

Word family

• inconstantly
• inconstancy

Related words

• constant
• constancy

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
8. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
11. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins