# permanent

Pronunciation: say "PUR-muh-nuhnt" US /ˈpɜɹ.mə.nənt/, UK /ˈpɜː.mə.nənt/

## Adjective

1. Lasting or meant to last for a very long time or forever; not temporary.
   - Simple: Lasting for a very long time or forever, not just for a short time.
   - _The treaty established a permanent border between the two nations._
   - _She accepted a permanent position with the firm after her trial period._

## Noun

2. A chemical hair treatment that adds or removes curliness, with effects that typically last for several months.
   - Simple: A chemical treatment that makes hair curly or straight for several months.
   - _Her grandmother got a permanent every few months to keep her tight curls._
   - _The stylist recommended a permanent for extra volume before the photoshoot._

## Verb

3. To treat the hair chemically so it holds curl or straightness; to give the hair a perm. *(dated)*
   - Simple: To treat someone's hair with chemicals to make it curly or straight.
   - _My grandmother remembered saving for weeks so the beauty shop could permanent her hair for her first dance._
   - _Hairdressers in those days would permanent hair using harsh chemical solutions._

## Other meanings

- (noun) In Magic: The Gathering and similar card games, a card or token on the battlefield, such as a creature or land, that stays in play until something removes it.
- (noun) A number computed from a square matrix as the sum, over all permutations, of the products of entries taken one from each row and column.

## Origin

Latin permaneō ("I stay through") lies behind permanēns, which reached Middle English as permanent by way of Middle French permanent; the word is first recorded in the 15th century.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/permanent (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).