What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Irreversible vs Permanent - What's the difference?

irreversible | permanent |

As adjectives the difference between irreversible and permanent

is that irreversible is incapable of being reversed or turned about or back; incapable of being made to run backward while permanent is without end, eternal.

As a noun permanent is

a chemical hair treatment imparting or removing curliness, whose effects typically last for a period of weeks; a perm.

As a verb permanent is

to perm (the hair).

irreversible

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • Incapable of being reversed or turned about or back; incapable of being made to run backward.
  • Incapable of being reversed, recalled, repealed, or annulled.
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2014-04-21, volume=411, issue=8884, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Subtle effects , passage=Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese
  • (label) Incapable of being reversed to the original state without consumption of free energy and increase of entropy.
  • permanent

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Without end, eternal.
  • Nothing in this world is truly permanent .
  • Lasting for an indefinitely long time.
  • The countries are now locked in a permanent state of conflict.

    Antonyms

    * impermanent, temporary

    Derived terms

    * permanently * permanent marker * permanent wave * permanent way

    Noun

    (wikipedia permanent) (en noun)
  • A chemical hair treatment imparting or removing curliness, whose effects typically last for a period of weeks; a perm.
  • * 1943 , (Raymond Chandler), The High Window , Penguin 2005, p. 8:
  • She had pewter-coloured hair set in a ruthless permanent , a hard beak and large moist eyes with the sympathetic expression of wet stones.
  • (linear algebra, combinatorics) Given an n \times n matrix a_{ij} \,, the sum over all permutations \pi \, of \prod_{i=1}^n{a_{i\pi(i)}}.
  • See also

    * determinant * ephemeral * relaxer * temporary

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (dated) To perm (the hair).