The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

permanent \permanent\ n.
   1. A wave or curl in the hair that lasts for months and is
      made durable by treating the hair with chemicals when it
      is curled.

   Syn: permanent wave.
        [PJC]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Permanent \Per"ma*nent\, a. [L. permanens, -entis, p. pr. of
   permanere to stay or remain to the end, to last; per + manere
   to remain: cf. F. permanent. See Per-, and Mansion.]
   Continuing in the same state, or without any change that
   destroys form or character; remaining unaltered or unremoved;
   abiding; durable; fixed; stable; lasting; as, a permanent
   impression.
   [1913 Webster]

         Eternity stands permanent and fixed.     --Dryden.
   [1913 Webster]

   Permanent gases (Chem. & Physics), hydrogen, oxygen,
      nitrogen, and carbon monoxide; -- also called
      incondensible gases or incoercible gases, before their
      liquefaction in 1877. The term is now archaic.

   Permanent way, the roadbed and superstructure of a finished
      railway; -- so called in distinction from the contractor's
      temporary way.

   Permanent white (Chem.), barium sulphate (heavy spar),
      used as a white pigment or paint, in distinction from
      white lead, which tarnishes and darkens from the
      formation of the sulphide.
      [1913 Webster]

   Syn: Lasting; durable; constant. See Lasting.
        [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

permanent
    adj 1: continuing or enduring without marked change in status or
           condition or place; "permanent secretary to the
           president"; "permanent address"; "literature of permanent
           value" [syn: permanent, lasting] [ant: impermanent,
           temporary]
    2: not capable of being reversed or returned to the original
       condition; "permanent brain damage"
    n 1: a series of waves in the hair made by applying heat and
         chemicals [syn: permanent wave, permanent, perm]

Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0:

224 Moby Thesaurus words for "permanent":
   Afro, abiding, age-long, aged, ageless, all-knowing, all-powerful,
   all-seeing, all-wise, almighty, ancient, antique, assiduous,
   boundless, ceaseless, changeless, chronic, coeternal, coif,
   coiffure, cold wave, conk, constant, continual, continuing,
   continuous, creating, creative, dateless, diligent, diuturnal,
   dogged, durable, endless, enduring, eternal, eternally the same,
   eterne, ever-being, ever-durable, ever-during, evergreen,
   everlasting, everliving, faithful, firm, fixed, frozen, glorious,
   good, haircut, hairdo, hairstyle, hallowed, hardy, headdress,
   highest, holy, home permanent, immemorial, immobile, immortal,
   immutable, imperishable, inalterable, incessant, incommutable,
   inconvertible, indefatigable, indefeasible, indestructible,
   indomitable, industrious, inert, infinite, insistent,
   insusceptible of change, intact, interminable, intransient,
   intransmutable, invariable, inveterate, invincible, inviolate,
   irretrievable, irreversible, irrevocable, just, lasting, limitless,
   long-lasting, long-lived, long-standing, long-term, longeval,
   longevous, loving, loyal, luminous, macrobiotic, majestic, making,
   merciful, natural, never-ceasing, never-ending, never-tiring,
   noble, nonreturnable, nonreversible, nonstop, nonterminating,
   nonterminous, numinous, obstinate, of long duration,
   of long standing, olamic, omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient, one,
   patient, patient as Job, perdurable, perduring, perennial,
   permanent wave, perpetual, perseverant, persevering, persistent,
   persisting, pertinacious, plodding, plugging, preoccupied, process,
   quiescent, radiant, rapt, relentless, remaining, resolute,
   reverseless, rigid, sacred, sedulous, sempervirent, sempiternal,
   shaping, single-minded, sleepless, slogging, solid, sovereign,
   stable, static, stationary, staying, steadfast, steady, stubborn,
   supreme, sustained, tenacious, timeless, tireless, torpid, tough,
   ubiquitous, unabating, unalterable, unalterative, unaltered,
   unbounded, unceasing, unchangeable, unchanged, unchanging,
   unchecked, unconquerable, undaunted, undefined, undeflectable,
   undestroyed, undeviating, undiscouraged, undrooping, undying,
   unending, unfading, unfailing, unfaltering, unflagging,
   unflinching, unintermitting, uninterrupted, unlimited,
   unmodifiable, unnodding, unrelaxing, unrelenting, unremitting,
   unrestorable, unreturnable, unshifting, unsleeping, unsusceptible,
   unswerving, untiring, unvariable, unvaried, unvarying, unwavering,
   unwearied, unwearying, unwinking, utterly attentive, vital, wave,
   weariless, without end