inconstancyn.
/ɪnˈkɒnstənsi/ Want of constancy.† 3. Inconsistency (in statements, etc.); an instance of this. Obsolete.
1. Of persons (or things personified, as Fortune): Fickleness of conduct or purpose; changeableness of character or disposition; unsteadfastness. Also, with plural, an instance of this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun]
unsteadfastnessa1300
falsenessc1330
unstablenessc1380
varyingc1380
inconstancec1386
variance1390
geriness1412
instabilityc1422
changeability?a1425
mutabilitya1425
changec1425
changeableness1447
unconstancec1449
unstabilitya1470
mutableness1481
unsureness1481
instableness1483
variation1509
inconstancy1526
shittleness1530
fickleness1548
unconstancy1548
unconstantness1551
inconstantness?a1562
pliableness1562
fast and loose1575
volubility1603
levity1604
unconstability1611
flexibleness1623
vagrancy1642
self-inconsistency1655
inconsistency1665
flittingnessa1680
easiness1705
inconsistence1713
versatility1755
contrariety1762
vibration1785
changefulness1791
girouettism1825
pirouettism1839
weathercockism1843
pirouettiveness1844
volatileness1849
unfixity1856
ficklety1888
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [noun] > instance of
inconstancec1386
inconstancy1526
inconsistency1750
vibration1785
1526 W. Bonde Pylgrimage of Perfection iii. sig. FFiiii Inconsyderacion or neglygence, inconstancy or vnstablenesse.
1590 E. Spenser Faerie Queene i. iv. sig. C8 For vnto knight there is no greater shame, Then lightnesse and inconstancie in loue.
1601 P. Holland tr. Pliny Hist. World II. 600 Willing after a sort to play at Fortunes game..and in some measure to satisfie her inconstancie.
1661 A. Cowley Vision Cromwell 7 Art thou the Country which didst hate, And mock the French Inconstancy?
1713 J. Swift in W. B. Scoones Four Cent. Eng. Lett. 165 You have triumphed..by the steadiness of your temper, over the inconstancy and caprice of your friends.
1740 G. Cheyne Ess. Regimen 167 Unaccountable Terrors, Panics, Inconstancies.
1894 E. Sullivan Woman 47 How you excuse, and even praise, the inconstancy of a woman who throws over another man for you.
2. † b. Variation, difference. Obsolete.
a. Of things or events: Mutability, variability; irregularity; absence of uniformity.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [noun]
unstablenessc1340
varyingc1380
uncertaintyc1384
brotelnessc1386
were1390
instabilityc1422
bricklenessa1425
changeability?a1425
changeableness1447
vertibility1447
mutability?a1475
variableness?a1475
inconstance1509
mutationa1542
fickleness1548
variety1548
unconstancy1563
mobility1567
unstability1572
vicissitude1576
variousness1607
inconstancy1613
slipperinessa1618
alterableness1633
versatilousness1640
bottomlessness1642
lability1651
brittlety1652
versatileness1654
fluctuancy1659
fugitivenessa1661
alterability1661
permutability1662
unfixedness1668
mutablenessa1677
flittingnessa1680
frailness1687
flittiness1692
versability1721
plasticity1727
variability1771
unestablishment1776
fluctuabilitya1786
changefulness1791
unsettledness1799
versatility1802
harlequinism1808
fluidity1824
fitfulness1825
sensitiveness1825
insubstantiality1848
contingency1858
rootlessness1859
shiftingness1866
ficklety1888
variancy1888
impredicability1906
proteanism1909
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun] > variety of form or non-uniformity
deformitya1544
difformity1580
inequability1581
disformity1600
irregularness1609
inconstancy1613
inconformity1625
inequality1626
irregularity1646
nonconformity1672
anomaly1686
disuniformity1710
ununiformness1716
ununiformity1749
heteromorphism1839
non-uniformity1852
raggedness1882
1613 S. Purchas Pilgrimage 13 The silent Moone..constant image of the worlds inconstancie, which it never seeth twice with the same face.
a1650 G. Boate Irelands Nat. Hist. (1652) xxi. 165 It is never dry weather two or three dayes together. Which inconstancy and wetness of the weather [etc.].
1726 G. Leoni tr. L. B. Alberti Architecture I. 101/2 The inconstancy of the air is what spoils every thing.
1825 J. R. McCulloch Princ. Polit. Econ. iii. ii. 240 The wages of labour, in different employments, vary with the constancy and inconstancy of employment.
1885 J. Martineau Types Ethical Theory I. 421 The inconstancy of his [Comte's] analysis of the human capacities and instincts.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > variety > [noun]
manifoldnesseOE
serenessa1300
diversityc1340
sundernessc1390
diversenessa1400
seretya1400
variancea1400
sundryhead?a1425
sundrinessa1450
variety1548
multivariety1601
diversifying1611
inconstancy1646
heterogeneity1651
variousness1651
heterogeneousness1662
variegation1668
multifariousness1684
miscellaneousness1727
miscellaneity1778
versatility1802
omnifariousness1806
motleyness1819
many-headedness1847
heterology1854
unhomogeneity1862
diversitude1870
variedness1897
polycentricity1915
inhomogeneity1916
1646 J. Gregory Notes & Observ. xvi. 63 The Armenian Translation rendreth, And Pharaoh called Ioseph Fésuut... This is all the inconstancy of reading I could observe.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > order > disorder > disharmony or incongruity > [noun] > inconsistency or contradiction
repugnancec1443
contrariety1483
repugnancya1500
inconstance1529
contrariosity1540
inconstancy1565
contradictiona1571
disconformity1572
inconsistence1643
inconsistentness1647
inconsistibility1650
inconsistency1651
1529 T. More Dialogue Heresyes iv. iii. 103 a/2 Whan he chaungeth so often, and wryteth euer the longer, the more contrary..But I pray you how excuseth he hys inconstaunce [ Wks. (1557) inconstauncie]?]
1565 J. Jewel Replie Hardinges Answeare xvii. 558 He seemeth not to consider the inconstancie, and folie of his owne tale.
1605 F. Bacon Of Aduancem. Learning ii. sig. Ll4 Let a man look into their [sc. physicians'] prescripts and ministrations, and he shall finde them but inconstancies . View more context for this quotation
4. Used for incontinency n. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
society > morality > moral evil > licentiousness > unchastity > [noun]
incontinencec1384
unchastityc1384
adulteryc1405
bawdry1460
sensualities1477
incontinency1485
unchasteness1530
dishonesty1535
immorality?1566
inconstancy1581
inchastity1590
1581 J. Marbeck Bk. Notes & Common Places 799 Some doe gather of this place, that Paule did mortifie in himself the fire of inconstancy, by long fasting.
1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 260 The bladder of a female kyd drunke in powder, helpeth the inconstancy of vrine.
1623 H. Cockeram Eng. Dict. Inconstancie, vnchastnes.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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