It means that *this is const inside that member function, i.e. it doesn’t alter the object.
The keyword
thisis a prvalue expression whose value is the address of the object for which the function is called. The type ofthisin a member function of a classXisX*. If the member function is declaredconst, the type ofthisisconst X*. [section 9.3.2 §1]In a
constmember function, the object for which the function is called is accessed through aconstaccess path; therefore, aconstmember function shall not modify the object and its non-static data members. [section 9.3.2 §2]
This means that a const member function can be called on a const instance of the class. A non-const member function can’t be called on [1]a const object, since it could potentially try to modify it.
[1] Note: a temporary is not a const object unless it’s of const type.