Home › Glossary › Letter C

constancy

Concept
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Steadfastness in loyalty, affection, purpose, or belief; a quality of remaining faithful and unchanged despite difficulty or time.

Detailed Definition
Constancy is a literary word for unwavering faithfulness, especially in love. In the final line, “trust thou my constancy,” it names the speaker’s promise to remain true despite danger.
Example
Example in poetry:
“Strange Power! I trust thy might; trust thou my constancy” makes constancy a moral quality of steadfast loyalty; Shakespeare’s sonnets test constancy against time, desire, and betrayal; Tennyson’s “Ulysses” presents endurance as a continuing commitment to strive; A contemporary love poem may contrast changing notifications with the constancy of returning to care for someone
Additional Notes
In “trust thou my constancy,” the word is more literary and abstract than everyday speech, so readers may pause over it.; Found in the poem, The Visionary by Emily Brontë
Also Known As
steadfastness fidelity loyalty permanence
Skip to main content