#149. Changeableness.—N. changeableness &c. adj.; mutability, inconstancy; versatility, mobility; instability, unstable equilibrium; vacillation &c. (irresolution) 605; fluctuation, vicissitude; alternation &c. (oscillation) 314. restlessness &c. adj. fidgets, disquiet; disquietude, inquietude; unrest; agitation &c. 315. moon, Proteus, chameleon, quicksilver, shifting sands, weathercock, harlequin, Cynthia of the minute, April showers[obs3]; wheel of Fortune; transientness &c. 111[obs3]. V. fluctuate, vary, waver, flounder, flicker, flitter, flit, flutter, shift, shuffle, shake, totter, tremble, vacillate, wamble[obs3], turn and turn about, ring the changes; sway to and fro, shift to and fro; change and change about; waffle, blow with the wind (irresolute) 605; oscillate &c. 314; vibrate between, two extremes, oscillate between, two extremes; alternate; have as many phases as the moon. Adj. changeable, changeful; changing &c. 140; mutable, variable, checkered, ever changing; protean, proteiform|; versatile. unstaid[obs3], inconstant; unsteady, unstable, unfixed, unsettled; fluctuating &c. v.; restless; agitated &c. 315; erratic, fickle; irresolute &c. 605; capricious &c. 608; touch and go; inconsonant, fitful, spasmodic; vibratory; vagrant, wayward; desultory; afloat; alternating; alterable, plastic, mobile; transient &c. 111; wavering. Adv. seesaw &c. (oscillation) 314; off and on. Phr. "a rolling stone gathers no moss"; pictra mossa non fa muschis[It]; honores mutant mores[Lat]; varium et mutabile semper femina [Lat][Vergil].
#150. Stability.—N. stability; immutability &c. adj.; unchangeability, &c. adj.; unchangeableness|!; constancy; stable equilibrium, immobility, soundness, vitality, stabiliment[obs3], stiffness, ankylosis[obs3], solidity, aplomb. establishment, fixture; rock, pillar, tower, foundation, leopard's spots, Ethiopia's skin. permanence &c. 141; obstinacy &c. 606. V. be firm &c. adj.; stick fast; stand firm, keep firm, remain firm; weather the storm, stay the course, stick to the course, keep the faith, don't give in, don't buckle under. settle, establish, stablish[obs3], ascertain, fix, set, stabilitate[obs3]; retain, keep hold; make good, make sure; fasten &c. (join) 43; set on its legs, float; perpetuate. settle down; strike roots, put down roots, take root; take up one's abode &c. 184; build one's house on a rock. Adj. unchangeable, immutable; unaltered, unalterable; not to be changed, constant; permanent &c. 141; invariable, undeviating; stable, durable; perennial &c. (diuturnal) 110[obs3]. fixed, steadfast, firm, fast, steady, balanced; confirmed, valid; fiducial[obs3]; immovable, irremovable, riveted, rooted; settled, established &c. v.; vested; incontrovertible, stereotyped, indeclinable. tethered, anchored, moored, at anchor, on a rock, rock solid, firm as a rock; firmly seated, firmly established &c. v.; deep-rooted, ineradicable; inveterate; obstinate &c. 606. transfixed, stuck fast, aground, high and dry, stranded. [movable object rendered unmovable] stuck, jammed; unremovable; quiescent &c. 265; deterioration &c. 659. indefeasible, irretrievable, intransmutable[obs3], incommutable[obs3], irresoluble[obs3], irrevocable, irreversible, reverseless[obs3], inextinguishable, irreducible; indissoluble, indissolvable[obs3]; indestructible, undying, imperishable, incorruptible, indelible, indeciduous[obs3]; insusceptible, insusceptible of change. Int. stet. Phr. littera scripta manet[Lat].
Present Events
#151. Eventuality.—N. eventuality, event, occurrence, incident, affair, matter, thing, episode, happening, proceeding, contingency, juncture, experience, fact; matter of fact; naked fact, bare facts, just the facts; phenomenon; advent. business, concern, transaction, dealing, proceeding; circumstance, particular, casualty, accident, adventure, passage, crisis, pass, emergency, contingency, consequence; opportunity (occasion) 143. the world, life, things, doings, affairs in general; things in general, affairs in general; the times, state of affairs, order of the day; course of things, tide of things, stream of things, current of things, run of things, march of things, course of events; ups and downs of life, vicissitudes of life; chapter of accidents &c. (chance) 156; situation &c. (circumstances) 8. V. happen, occur; take place, take effect; come, become of; come off, comeabout[obs3], come round, come into existence, come forth, come to pass, come on; pass, present itself; fall; fall out, turn out; run, be on foot, fall in; befall, betide, bechance[obs3]; prove, eventuate, draw on; turn up, crop up, spring up, pop up, arise, show up, show its face, appear, come forth, cast up; supervene, survene[obs3]; issue, arrive, ensue, arise, start, hold, take its course; pass off &c. (be past) 122. meet with; experience, enjoy, encounter, undergo, suffer, pass through, go through, be subjected to, be exposed to; fall to the lot of; be one's chance, be one's fortune, be one's lot; find; endure &c. (feel) 821. Adj. happening &c. v; going on, doing, current; in the wind, in the air, afloat; on foot, afoot, on the tapis[obs3]; at issue, in question; incidental. eventful, stirring, bustling, full of incident; memorable, momentous, signal. Adv. eventually; in the event of, in case, just in case; in the course of things; as things, times go; as the world goes, wags; as the tree falls, cat jumps; as it may turn out, happen. Phr. that's the way the ball bounces, that's the way the cookie crumbles; you never know what may turn up, you never know what the future will bring; the plot thickens; "breasts the blows of circumstance" [Tennyson]; "so runs round of life from hour to hour" "sprinkled along the waste of years" [Tennyson][Keble].
Future Events
#152. Destiny.—N. destiny &c. (necessity) 601; future existence, post existence; hereafter; future state, next world, world to come, after life; futurity &c. 121; everlasting life, everlasting death; life beyond the grave, world beyond the grave; prospect &c. (expectation) 507. V. impend; hang over, lie over; threaten, loom, await, come on, approach, stare one in the face; foreordain, preordain; predestine, doom, have in store for. Adj. impending &c. v.; destined; about to be, happen; coming, in store, to come, going to happen, instant, at hand, near; near, close at hand; over hanging, hanging over one's head, imminent; brewing, preparing, forthcoming; in the wind, on the cards, in reserve; that will, is to be; in prospect &c. (expected) 507; looming in the distance, horizon, future; unborn, in embryo; in the womb of time, futurity; pregnant &c. (producing) 161. Adv. in time, the long run; all in good time; eventually &c. 151; whatever may happen &c. (certainly) 474; as chance &c. 156 would have it.
SECTION VIII. CAUSATION
1. CONSTANCY OF SEQUENCE IN EVENTS
#153. [Constant antecedent]. Cause.—N. cause, origin, source, principle, element; occasioner[obs3], prime mover, primum mobile[Lat]; vera causa[Lat]; author &c. (producer) 164; mainspring; agent; leaven; groundwork, foundation &c. (support) 215. spring, fountain, well, font; fountainhead, spring head, wellhead; fons et origo[Lat], genesis; descent &c. (paternity) 166; remote cause; influence. pivot, hinge, turning point, lever, crux, fulcrum; key; proximate cause, causa causans[Lat]; straw that breaks the camel's back. ground; reason, reason why; why and wherefore, rationale, occasion, derivation; final cause &c. (intention) 620; les dessous des cartes[Fr]; undercurrents. rudiment, egg, germ, embryo, bud, root, radix radical, etymon, nucleus, seed, stem, stock, stirps, trunk, tap-root, gemmule[obs3], radicle, semen, sperm. nest, cradle, nursery, womb, nidus, birthplace, hotbed. causality, causation; origination; production &c. 161. V. be the cause &c. n of; originate; give origin to, give rise, to, give occasion to; cause, occasion, sow the seeds of, kindle, suscitate[obs3]; bring on, bring to bring pass, bring about; produce; create &c. 161; set up, set afloat, set on foot; found, broach, institute, lay the foundation of; lie at the root of. procure, induce, draw down, open the door to, superinduce, evoke, entail, operate; elicit, provoke. conduce to &c. (tend to) 176; contribute; have a hand in the pie, have a finger in the pie; determine, decide, turn the scale; have a common origin; derive its origin &c. (effect) 154. Adj. caused &c. v; causal, original; primary, primitive, primordial; aboriginal; protogenal[obs3]; radical; embryonic, embryotic[obs3]; in embryo, in ovo[Lat]; seminal, germinal; at the bottom of; connate, having a common origin. Adv. because &c. 155; behind the scenes. Phr. causa latet vis est notissima [Lat][Ovid]; felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas [Lat][Vergil].
#154. [Constant sequent.] Effect.— N. effect, consequence; aftergrowth[obs3], aftercome[obs3]; derivative, derivation; result; resultant, resultance[obs3]; upshot, issue, denouement; end &c. 67; development, outgrowth, fruit, crop, harvest, product, bud. production, produce, work, handiwork, fabric, performance; creature, creation; offspring, offshoot; firstfruits[obs3], firstlings; heredity, telegony[obs3]; premices premises[obs3]. V. be the effect of &c. n.; be due to, be owing to; originate in, originate from; rise -, arise, take its rise spring from, proceed from, emanate from, come from, grow from, bud from, sprout from, germinate from, issue from, flow from, result from, follow from, derive its origin from, accrue from; come to, come of, come out of; depend upon, hang upon, hinge upon, turn upon. take the consequences, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind. Adj. owing to; resulting from &c. v.; derivable from; due to; caused by &c. 153; dependent upon; derived from, evolved from; derivative; hereditary; telegonous[obs3]. Adv. of course, it follows that, naturally, consequently; as a consequence, in consequence; through, all along of, necessarily, eventually. Phr. cela va sans dire[Fr], "thereby hangs a tale" [Taming of the Shrew].