Where does “perm” come from?

Perm is a shortening of permanent, which derives from Middle French permanent, from Latin permanens, the present participle of permaneo, composed of the prefix per- and the root men-.

perm (English): A permanent; A permanent wave; To give hair a...

Definitions

A permanent; A permanent wave; To give hair a...

Ancestry of “perm”, step by step

Step	Language	Word	Meaning
1	English	permanent	Without end, eternal; Lasting for an indefinitely...
2	Latin	permanēns	lasting, continuing, ongoing
3	Latin	permaneo	I stay to the end, hold out, endure; last,...
4	Latin	per-	Used to make adjectives or verbs that are "very"...
5	Proto-Italic	peri-	—

Every word from Proto-Italic peri- →