instability - Definitions from Dictionary.com

6 results for: instability

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

in·sta·bil·i·ty

Audio Help [in-stuh-bil-i-tee] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	the quality or state of being unstable; lack of stability or firmness.

2.	the tendency to behave in an unpredictable, changeable, or erratic manner: emotional instability.

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME instabilite < L instabilitās. See in-³, stability

]

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
instability

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

in·sta·bil·i·ty Audio Help (ĭn'stə-bĭl'ĭ-tē) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. in·sta·bil·i·ties

Lack of physical stability; unsteadiness.
The quality or condition of being erratic or undependable: emotional instability; political instability.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
instability

c.1422, from M.Fr. instabilite, from L. instabilitatem (nom. instabilitas) "unsteadiness," from instabilis "unsteady," from in- "not" + stabilis (see stable (2)).

WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

instability
noun
1.	an unstable order [ant: stability]
2.	unreliability attributable to being unstable
3.	a lack of balance or state of disequilibrium; "a hormonal imbalance" [syn: imbalance] [ant: balance]
4.	the quality or attribute of being unstable and irresolute [ant: stability]

Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
instability [instəˈbiləti] noun

lack of stability or steadiness eg of personality

Arabic:	عَدَم إسْتِقْرار
Chinese (Simplified):	不稳定性
Chinese (Traditional):	不穩定性
Czech:	nestálost
Danish:	ustadighed; uligevægt
Dutch:	instabiliteit
Estonian:	ebastabiilsus
Finnish:	epävakaisuus
French:	instabilité
German:	die Unbeständigkeit
Greek:	αστάθεια
Hungarian:	ingatagság
Icelandic:	óstöðugleiki
Indonesian:	ketidakstabilan
Italian:	instabilità

Japanese:	不安定
Korean:	불안정
Latvian:	nestabilitāte
Lithuanian:	nepastovumas
Norwegian:	ustabilitet, ustøhet, ustadighet
Polish:	chwiejność
Portuguese (Brazil):	instabilidade
Portuguese (Portugal):	instabilidade
Romanian:	instabilitate
Russian:	неуравновешенность
Slovak:	nestálosť
Slovenian:	labilnost
Spanish:	inestabilidad
Swedish:	instabilitet
Turkish:	kararsızlık, dengesizlik

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Instability

In`sta*bil"i*ty\, n.; pl. Instabilities. [L. instabilitas: cf. F. instabilit['e].]

1. The quality or condition of being unstable; want of stability, firmness, or steadiness; liability to give way or to fail; insecurity; precariousness; as, the instability of a building.

2. Lack of determination of fixedness; inconstancy; fickleness; mutability; changeableness; as, instability of character, temper, custom, etc. --Addison.

Syn: Inconstancy; fickleness; changeableness; wavering; unsteadiness; unstableness.

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