Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Permanent

Per′ma·nent (·nent), a. [L. permanens, -entis, p. pr. of permanere to stay or remain to the end, to last; per + manere to remain: cf. F. permanent. See Per-, and Mansion.] Continuing in the same state, or without any change that destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved; abiding; durable; fixed; stable; lasting; as, a permanent impression.

Eternity stands permanent and fixed. Dryden.

Permanent gases (Chem. & Physics), hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide; — also called incondensible or incoercible gases, before their liquefaction in 1877. — Permanent way, the roadbed and superstructure of a finished railway; — so called in distinction from the contractor's temporary way. — Permanent white (Chem.), barium sulphate (heavy spar), used as a white pigment or paint, in distinction from white lead, which tarnishes and darkens from the formation of the sulphide.

Syn. — Lasting; durable; constant. See Lasting.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.