stability

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. The state or quality of being stable, especially:
2. n. Resistance to change, deterioration, or displacement.
3. n. Constancy of character or purpose; steadfastness.
4. n. Reliability; dependability.
5. n. The ability of an object, such as a ship or aircraft, to maintain equilibrium or resume its original, upright position after displacement, as by the sea or strong winds.
6. n. Roman Catholic Church A vow committing a Benedictine monk to one monastery for life.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. The state or property of being stable or firm; strength to stand and resist overthrow or change; stableness; firmness: as, the stability of a building, of a government, or of a system.
2. n. Steadiness or firmness, as of purpose or resolution; fixity of character; steadfastness: the opposite of fickleness and inconstancy.
3. n. Fixedness, as opposed to fluidity.
4. n. Continuance in the same state; permanence; specifically, an additional or fourth vow of continuance in the same profession, and residence for life in the same monastery, imposed upon monks by the Benedictine rule.
5. n. That character of equilibrium, or of a body in equilibrium, in virtue of which, if the position is disturbed, it tends to be restored. The term is especially used in this sense with reference to ships and floating bodies, in which the distance of the center of gravity below the metacenter is the measure- of the stability. This may be considered as the difference between the distance of the center of flotation from the metacenter, called the stability of figure, and the distance of the center of gravity from the metacenter, called the stability of load. The stability under sail is also considered.
6. n. Synonyms and
7. n. Immobility, permanence. See stable.
8. n. Molecular stability, permanence of condition as regards the arrangement of the molecules: said of metals which, by repeated annealing, have been brought into a state in which further changes of dimensions or structure do not occur.

Wiktionary

1. n. The condition of being stable or in equilibrium, and thus resistant to change
2. n. The tendency to recover from perturbations

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. The state or quality of being stable, or firm; steadiness; stableness; firmness; strength to stand without being moved or overthrown
2. n. Steadiness or firmness of character; firmness of resolution or purpose; the quality opposite to fickleness, irresolution, or inconstancy; constancy; steadfastness.
3. n. Fixedness; -- as opposed to fluidity.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. the quality of being enduring and free from change or variation
2. n. a stable order (especially of society)
3. n. the quality or attribute of being firm and steadfast