fixity

noun

fix·​i·​ty ˈfik-sə-tē 

plural fixities

1

: the quality or state of being fixed or stable

2

: something that is fixed

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

The Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944 ushered in a system of international exchange-rate fixity and stability. —Steve H. Hanke, WSJ, 8 Aug. 2022

The earth was stamped with cloud shadows that gave an impression both of movement and fixity — a rich, dark earth with an inner seam that showed red and metallic in places. —New York Times, 11 Nov. 2021

And painting, in our culture, has the unassailable fixity of a monument. —Susan Tallman, The New York Review of Books, 25 Apr. 2020

Notley’s work seems to suggest that correctives to the old narratives are possible but also that real fixity is always out of reach. —David Wallace, The New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2020

Typographical fixity preserves, and gives a certain permanence to, written thought. —Jeet Heer, New Republic, 23 Sep. 2017

To that degree, the fixity of political structures may seem like a vice. —James Poulos, Orange County Register, 18 Feb. 2017

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Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Medieval Latin fīxitāt-, fīxitās, from Latin fīxus "firmly established, unchangeable" + -itāt-, -itās -ity

First Known Use

1666, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

fixity

noun

fix·​i·​ty ˈfik-sət-ē 

plural fixities

1

: the quality or state of being fixed

2

: something that is fixed