perm

Word family

• permanent
  adjectiveB1
• permanently
  adverbB2
• permanence
  nounC1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

For hair, perm is more specific than curl. If you perm hair, you use chemicals so the curls last for a long time. Curl is broader and can describe using a curling iron, rollers, or even natural curls. Wave is also broader, and it often suggests a softer, looser shape than perm. Straighten is the opposite idea: it removes curls instead of creating them. So a stylist can curl your hair for one evening, but perm it if you want the shape to stay for weeks. A learner can remember it this way: 'She curled her hair for the party,' but 'She had her hair permed for the summer.'

Etymology

Perm is a shortened form of permanent wave. English first used permanent for this hairstyle because the curls were meant to last much longer than an ordinary set. Later, speakers clipped the expression to perm, and that shorter everyday form came to mean both the salon treatment and the curly hairstyle itself.