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.

Maintain vs Constant - What's the difference?

maintain | constant |

As a verb maintain

is to support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.

As an adjective constant is

unchanged through time or space; permanent.

As a noun constant is

that which is permanent or invariable.

maintain

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete) To support (someone), to back up or assist (someone) in an action.
  • *:
  • *:And thenne he asked leue & wente oute of his heremytage for to mayntene his neuewe ageynst the myghty Erle / and so hit happed that this man that lyeth here dede dyd so moche by his wysedome and hardynes that the Erle was take and thre of his lordes by force of this dede man
  • To keep up; to preserve; to uphold (a state, condition etc.).
  • *, chapter=17
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=This time was most dreadful for Lilian. Thrown on her own resources and almost penniless, she maintained herself and paid the rent of a wretched room near the hospital by working as a charwoman, sempstress, anything. In a moment she had dropped to the level of a casual labourer.}}
  • *{{quote-news, year=2011, date=November 5, author=Phil Dawkes, work=BBC Sport
  • , title= QPR 2-3 Man City , passage=Mancini's men were far from their best but dug in to earn a 10th win in 11 league games and an eighth successive victory in all competitions to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the table.}}
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-03, author=Nancy Langston, volume=101, issue=2, page=98
  • , magazine=(American Scientist) , title= Mining the Boreal North , passage=Reindeer are well suited to the taiga’s frigid winters. They can maintain a thermogradient between body core and the environment of up to 100 degrees, in part because of insulation provided by their fur, and in part because of counter-current vascular heat exchange systems in their legs and nasal passages.}}
  • To declare or affirm (a clause) to be true; to assert.
  • * {{quote-news, year=2012, date=April 19, author=Josh Halliday, work=the Guardian
  • , title= Free speech haven or lawless cesspool – can the internet be civilised? , passage=She maintains that the internet should face similar curbs to TV because young people are increasingly living online. "It's totally different, someone at Google watching the video from the comfort of their office in San Francisco to someone from a council house in London, where this video is happening right outside their front door."}}

    Derived terms

    * maintainability

    Antonyms

    * (to keep up) abandon

    Anagrams

    *

    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 ----