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Constant vs Forever - What's the difference?

constant | forever |

As nouns the difference between constant and forever

is that constant is that which is permanent or invariable while forever is an extremely long time.

As an adjective constant

is unchanged through time or space; permanent.

As an adverb forever is

for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.

constant

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Unchanged through time or space; permanent.
  • Consistently recurring over time; persistent.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-11-16, volume=409, issue=8862, magazine=(The Economist), author=Schumpeter
  • , title= The mindfulness business , passage=The constant pinging of electronic devices is driving many people to the end of their tether. Electronic devices not only overload the senses and invade leisure time. They feed on themselves: the more people tweet the more they are rewarded with followers and retweets.}}
  • Steady in purpose, action, feeling, etc.
  • * Sir (Philip Sidney) (1554-1586)
  • Both loving one fair maid, they yet remained constant friends.
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
  • I am constant to my purposes.
  • * (John Dryden) (1631-1700)
  • His gifts, his constant courtship, nothing gained.
  • Firm; solid; not fluid.
  • * (Robert Boyle) (1627-1691)
  • Ifyou mix them, you may turn these two fluid liquors into a constant body.
  • (obsolete) Consistent; logical.
  • * Shakespeare, Twelfth Night IV.ii
  • I am no more mad than you are: make the trial of it with any constant question.

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That which is permanent or invariable.
  • (algebra) A quantity that remains at a fixed value throughout a given discussion.
  • (science) Any property of an experiment, determined numerically, that does not change under given circumstances.
  • (computing) An identifier that is bound to an invariant value; a fixed value given a name to aid in readability of source code.
  • See also

    * (computing) literal ----

    forever

    English

    Alternative forms

    * for ever

    Adverb

    (-)
  • (duration) for all time, for all eternity; for an infinite amount of time.
  • ''I shall love you forever .
  • * 1839 , Denison Olmsted, A Compendium of Astronomy Page 95
  • Secondly, When a body is once in motion it will continue to move forever , unless something stops it. When a ball is struck on the surface of the earth, the friction of the earth and the resistance of the air soon stop its motion.
  • (duration, colloquial) for a very long time, 'an' eternity.
  • ''We had to wait forever to get inside.
  • (frequency) constantly or frequently.
  • ''You are forever nagging me.
  • * 1912 : (Edgar Rice Burroughs), (Tarzan of the Apes), Chapter 5
  • Early in his boyhood he had learned to form ropes by twisting and tying long grasses together, and with these he was forever tripping Tublat or attempting to hang him from some overhanging branch.

    Usage notes

    * In the United Kingdom and most of the Commonwealth, the spelling for ever'' may be used instead of ''forever'' for the senses "for all time" and "for a long time". In Canada and the United States, generally only ''forever is used, regardless of sense.

    Synonyms

    * always * continually * eternally * evermore * for good * forevermore * for ever more * incessantly * until Kingdom come

    Derived terms

    * foreverness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An extremely long time.
  • *
  • * 2007 , Ruth O'Callaghan, Where acid has etched
  • In the airport, holiday lovers kiss, mouth forevers , the usual argot betrays you. Desire makes love dull.
  • (colloquial) a mythical time in the infinite future that will never come.
  • ''Sure, I'd be happy to meet with you on the 12th of forever .