permanent

Permanent is an adjective describing something that lasts for an indefinitely long time or for a very long duration, not temporary or transitional. The term comes from Latin permanēre, meaning to remain or endure. In everyday use it contrasts with temporary, transient, or provisional to indicate durability, stability, or lasting change.

In everyday life, permanent is used to denote enduring statuses or conditions, such as permanent residency, permanent address, or a permanent job. It is also used in consumer and industrial contexts, for example to describe a permanent marker that is designed to leave a lasting, resistant mark, or to finishes and treatments described as permanent in textiles and cosmetics.

In science and engineering, permanent has several specialized meanings. Permanent magnets are materials that retain a magnetization without continuous external energy, unlike electromagnets. Their characteristics include remanent magnetization and coercivity, and they play a central role in devices such as motors, generators, and sensors.

In mathematics, the permanent of a square matrix is a function analogous to the determinant but without alternating signs. For an n-by-n matrix A, the permanent is the sum over all permutations of the products a_{i,σ(i)}. The permanent is easier to state but much harder to compute in general, and it appears in combinatorics, probability, and certain areas of physics.

The term permanent is also used in law, policy, and management to designate positions, statuses, or arrangements intended to endure for the foreseeable future, distinguishing them from temporary or provisional arrangements. Related concepts include permanence and permanence-related terms that describe the quality of lastingness.