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inconstant, a. (n.)|ɪnˈkɒnstənt|
[a. F. inconstant (1372 in Hatz.-Darm.), ad. L. inconstāntem, f. in- (in-3) + constānt-em constant.]
Not constant.
1. Of persons, or their character, actions, etc.: Not steadfast; fickle, changeable.
1402Hoccleve Letter of Cupid 101 She..ys fals and inconstant and hath no feythe. 1508Dunbar Tua mariit wemen 260 Be constant in ȝour gouernance, and counterfeit gud maneris, Thought ȝe be kene, inconstant, & cruell of mynd. 1590Spenser F.Q. i. iv. 26 Inconstant man, that loued all he saw, And lusted after all that he did loue. 1624Capt. Smith Virginia ii. 30 They are inconstant in every thing but what feare constraineth them to keepe. 1776Gibbon Decl. & F. x. I. 278 It is difficult to paint the light, the various, the inconstant character of Gallienus. 1844Ld. Brougham Brit. Const. App. iii. (1862) 461 The fickle, inconstant, volatile temper of the people.
2. Of things: Frequently changing or altering; mutable, variable, irregular.
1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 7 b, What is more frayle, more inconstaunt & mutable than is the wyll of man? 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. ii. 109 O sweare not by the Moone, th' inconstant Moone, That monethly changes in her circle Orbe. 1602Marston Ant. & Mel. i. Wks. 1856 I. 16 Sayling some two monthes with inconstant winds. 1684Contempl. State Man i. ii. (1699) 12 All things on this side Heaven are inconstant and transitory. 1833Lyell Princ. Geol. III. 43 Mineral and organic characters, although often inconstant, may..enable us to establish the contemporaneous origin of formations in distant countries. 1875Poste Gaius Pref. (ed. 2) 8 The orthography of the Veronese MS. is extremely inconstant.
†b. Of the eyes: Unsteady, shifting. Obs.
1598Hakluyt Voy. I. 21 They [the Tartars] be hardie and strong..their eye-browes extending from their fore⁓heads downe to their noses, their eies inconstant and blacke, their countenances writhen and terrible.
†3. Inconsistent with. Obs.
1642Sir E. Dering Sp. on Relig. 61 Episcopacy is incompatible and inconstant with the authority of a secular jurisdiction.
B. n. An inconstant person or thing. (Cf. F. un inconstant.)
1647Cowley Mistress lxiii. (heading) The Inconstant. 1703Farquhar (title) The Inconstant; or the way to win him. 1703Motteux Prol. 28 ibid., This night we hope you'll an Inconstant bear. 1794W. Curtis Bot. Mag. No. 218 The Disandra varies extremely in the number of its stamina..few such inconstants exist. 1840F. Trollope Widow Married xxxiv, Either from his being a gambler, or an inconstant. |