24 Iterators library [iterators]

24.5 Iterator adaptors [predef.iterators]

24.5.3 Constant iterators and sentinels [const.iterators]

24.5.3.1 General [const.iterators.general]

Class template basic_const_iterator is an iterator adaptor with the same behavior as the underlying iterator except that its indirection operator implicitly converts the value returned by the underlying iterator's indirection operator to a type such that the adapted iterator is a constant iterator ([iterator.requirements]).
Some generic algorithms can be called with constant iterators to avoid mutation.
Specializations of basic_const_iterator are constant iterators.