Constancy
['kɒnst(ə)nsɪ] or ['kɑnstənsi]
Definition
(noun.) the quality of being enduring and free from change or variation; 'early mariners relied on the constancy of the trade winds'.
(noun.) faithfulness and dependability in personal attachments (especially sexual fidelity).
(noun.) (psychology) the tendency for perceived objects to give rise to very similar perceptual experiences in spite of wide variations in the conditions of observation.
Edited by Daisy--From WordNet
Definition
(n.) The state or quality of being constant or steadfast; freedom from change; stability; fixedness; immutability; as, the constancy of God in his nature and attributes.
(n.) Fixedness or firmness of mind; persevering resolution; especially, firmness of mind under sufferings, steadiness in attachments, or perseverance in enterprise; stability; fidelity.
Typist: Wilhelmina
Synonyms and Synonymous
n. [1]. Stability, immutability, unchangeableness, permanence.[2]. Uniformity, regularity.[3]. Inflexibility, steadiness, steadfastness, firmness, resolution, determination, decision, tenacity of purpose.
Editor: Thea
Examples
- This here red-nosed man, Sammy, wisits your mother-in-law vith a kindness and constancy I never see equalled. Charles Dickens. The Pickwick Papers.
- I had always felt my weakness, in comparison with her constancy and fortitude; and now I felt it more and more. Charles Dickens. David Copperfield.
- And we can set a watch over our affections and our constancy as we can over other treasures. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- With almost every other man in the world, it would be an alarming prospect; but Edward's affection and constancy nothing can deprive me of I know. Jane Austen. Sense and Sensibility.
- Is there not love in my heart, and constancy in my resolves? Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- If you go upon arguments, they are never wanting, when a man has no constancy of mind. George Eliot. Middlemarch.
- I shall then give over every expectation, every wish of his constancy. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
- He is a man Thomasin likes, she added, and one whose constancy she respects at least. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- It is for me to ask your pardon for being a fool for a moment, and thinking that years of constancy and devotion might have pleaded with you. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- She couldn't, in spite of his love and constancy and her own acknowledged regard, respect, and gratitude. William Makepeace Thackeray. Vanity Fair.
- But constancy, chastity, good sense, and good nature, were not rated, because they would not bear the charge of collecting. Jonathan Swift. Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World.
- No one can doubt but this property is natural from the constancy and steadiness of its operations. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- I think I shall like you again, and yet again: and I will make you confess I do not only _like_, but _love_ you--with truth, fervour, constancy. Charlotte Bronte. Jane Eyre.
- It was all over wives and angels, and eternal constancy, and eternal despair; with miseries and tortures without end. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
- Worcester is gone to his papa's, at Badminton; and I, being sworn to constancy, have no other _beaux_ to write about. Harriette Wilson. The Memoirs of Harriette Wilson.
Checked by Basil