ephemeral

ephemeral

English

WOTD – 24 August 2007

Etymology

From New Latin ephemerus, from Ancient Greek ἐφήμερος (ephḗmeros), the more common form of ἐφημέριος (ephēmérios, “of, for, or during the day, living or lasting but for a day, short-lived, temporary”), from ἐπί (epí, “on”) + ἡμέρα (hēméra, “day”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/, /əˈfɛ.mə.ɹəl/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

ephemeral (plural ephemerals)

1. Something which lasts for a short period of time.

   Synonym: ephemeron

Derived terms

• spring ephemeral

Adjective

ephemeral (comparative more ephemeral, superlative most ephemeral)

1. Lasting for a short period of time.

   Synonyms: temporary, transitory, fleeting, evanescent, momentary, short-lived, short, volatile; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral

   Antonyms: permanent, eternal, everlasting, timeless

   • 1821-1822, Vicesimus Knox, Remarks on the tendency of certain Clauses in a Bill now pending in Parliament to degrade Grammar Schools

     Esteem, lasting esteem, the esteem of good men, like himself, will be his reward, when the gale of ephemeral popularity shall have gradually subsided.

   • 1853, James Stephen, Lecture on the right use of Books

     sentences not of ephemeral, but of eternal, efficacy

   • 1818, Mary Shelley, chapter 9, in Frankenstein‎:

     It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral, because human, sorrows.

2. (biology) Existing for only one day, as with some flowers, insects, and diseases.
3. (geology, of a body of water) Usually dry, but filling with water for brief periods during and after precipitation.
   • 1986, W.H. Raymond, "Clinoptilolite Deposit in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, U.S.A.", in Yūichi Murakami et al. (editors), New Developments in Zeolite Science and Technology (conference proceedings), Elsevier, →ISBN, page 80:

     The graben constitutes a depositional basin and a topographic low, underlain by Cretaceous shales, in which volcanic debris accumulated in ephemeral lakes and streams in Oligocene and early Miocene time.

Derived terms

• bovine ephemeral fever
• ephemeral fever
• ephemeralization
• ephemeral lake
• ephemerally

 

Related terms

• ephemera
• ephemeron
• ephemerality
• hemeral

Translations

lasting for a short period of time

Armenian: վաղանցիկ (hy) (vałancʿik), անցողիկ (hy) (ancʿołik) Belarusian: эфемерны (efjemjerny), мінучы (minučy), недаўгавечны (njedaŭhavječny), мімалётны (mimaljótny) Bulgarian: краткотраен (bg) (kratkotraen), мимолетен (bg) (mimoleten) Catalan: efímer (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 短暫嘅 (dyun2 zaam6 ge3), 一時嘅 (jat1 si4 ge3) Mandarin: 短暫的／短暂的 (duǎnzàn de), 一時的／一时的 (yīshí de) Czech: dočasný (cs) m, krátkodobý (cs) m, efemerní Danish: midlertidig (da), kortlivet Dutch: vergankelijk (nl), kortstondig (nl), vluchtig (nl) Esperanto: momenta Finnish: lyhytaikainen (fi), hetkellinen, ohimenevä (fi) French: éphémère (fr) Galician: efímero (gl) m German: flüchtig (de), kurzlebig (de), vergänglich (de) Greek: εφήμερος (el) (efímeros) Hungarian: kérészéletű (hu), efemer (hu), röpke (hu) Icelandic: skammvinnur m, skammær m, skammlífur m, hverfull m Indonesian: (please verify) bersifat sementara Irish: breacshaolach, gearrshaolach Italian: effimero (it), passeggero (it), fuggevole (it), transitorio (it), fugace (it) Japanese: はかない (ja) (hakanai), 束の間の (tsukanoma no) Korean: 재지 않는 (jaeji anneun) Kurdish: Northern Kurdish: demkî (ku) Maori: rangitahi Norwegian: kortvarig Occitan: efemèr (oc) m Polish: ulotny (pl) m, efemeryczny (pl) m Portuguese: efêmero (pt) m Romanian: efemer (ro), trecător (ro) Russian: эфеме́рный (ru) (efemérnyj), преходящий (ru) (prexodjaščij), мимолётный (ru) (mimoljótnyj), недолговечный (ru) (nedolgovečnyj), непродолжительный (ru) (neprodolžitelʹnyj) Serbo-Croatian: ȅfemēran (sh), krȁtkotrājan (sh), prìvremen (sh) Slovene: kratkotrajen m, začasen m Spanish: efímero (es) Swedish: flyktig (sv), efemär (sv), förgänglig (sv), kortlivad (sv) Turkish: efemera Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can Welsh: byrhoedlog (cy), darfodedig (cy)

existing for only one day

Bulgarian: еднодневен (ednodneven) Catalan: efímer (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 朝生暮死的, 昙花一现的 Danish: døgnflue (da) Dutch: eendaags (nl), eendags Finnish: päivä- (fi), päivän- (fi), päivän kestävä German: Eintags- Greek: εφήμερος (el) (efímeros) Hungarian: tiszavirág-életű Icelandic: dægurlangur m Maori: rangitahi Polish: efemeryczny (pl) Russian: однодневный (ru) (odnodnevnyj) Serbo-Croatian: ȅfemēran (sh) Welsh: undydd

See also

• evanescence

Further reading

• ephemeral in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• ephemeral in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911
• ephemeral on Wikipedia.Wikipedia