constant English · revision 4575

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1386|origins=la constare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈkɒn.stənt/, US /ˈkɑːn.stənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|constaunt]],^(Barnhart 1988) [[bor|fro|constant]] and directly [[bor|la|cōnstāns|t=standing firm, stable, steadfast]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) the present participle of cōnstāre “to stand together, stand firm”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from con- “with, together” and stāre “to stand”,^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[ine-pro|*steh₂-|alt=*sta-|t=to stand]].^(Etymonline) It is related to [[stand]], [[cost]] and [[distant]].^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Steadfast, resolute, firm in mind: about 1386–1390 in the OED and Barnhart, in Chaucer's Canterbury Tales.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Faithful in attachment to a person or cause is from the early 15th century.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) Of things and conditions, unchanging or invariable, is from the 1540s,^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) continual or enduring from the 1650s, and regularly recurring from 1817.^(Etymonline) In mathematics the adjective is from 1753, and the noun, a quantity that does not vary, from 1832,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) with the general “something that does not change” from 1856.^(Etymonline) ''Constancy'' (1526) replaced Middle English constaunce.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1386 – steadfast, resolute.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1425 – faithful.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1540s – unchanging.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1650s – continual.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1753 – adjective, in mathematics.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1832 – noun, an invariable quantity.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1856 – noun, anything that does not change.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Happening all the time or again and again; [[continual]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Staying the same; not varying.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' [[faithful|alt=Faithful]] and loyal.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Something that does not change.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(mathematics, physics)'' A quantity with a fixed value, such as the [[speed of light]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[constantly]]

+ * [[nonconstant]]

+ * [[unconstant]]

+ * [[constant of integration]]

+ * [[Boltzmann constant]]

+ * [[cosmological constant]]

+ * [[dielectric constant]]

+ * [[Michaelis constant]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[constancy]]

+ * [[stand]]

+ * [[cost]]

+ * [[distant]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}