transitory
English
WOTD – 13 January 2012
Etymology
From Middle French transitoire, from Old French, from Latin transitorius.
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /ˈtɹæn.zɪ.t(ə)ɹɪ/, /ˈtɹæn.sɪ.t(ə)ɹɪ/
- (US) IPA(key): /ˈtɹæn.zɪˌtɔɹ.i/, /ˈtɹæn.sɪˌtɔɹ.i/
Audio (US) (file) Audio (AU) (file)
Adjective
transitory (comparative more transitory, superlative most transitory)
- Lasting only a short time; temporary.
- Synonyms: see Thesaurus:ephemeral
- 1704, [Jonathan Swift], “Section I. The Introduction.”, in A Tale of a Tub. […], London: […] John Nutt, […], OCLC 752990886, page 34:
- Secondly, That the Materials being very tranſitory, have ſuffered much from Inclemencies of Air, eſpecially in theſe North-Weſt Regions.
- 1838 March – 1839 October, Charles Dickens, chapter XXXVIII, in The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1839, OCLC 1057107260, page 366:
- Quite unconscious of the demonstrations of their amorous neighbour, or their effects upon the susceptible bosom of her mama, Kate Nickleby had, by this time begun to enjoy a settled feeling of tranquillity and happiness, to which, even in occasional and transitory glimpses, she had long been a stranger.
- 1922, F[rancis] Scott Fitzgerald, “A Matter of Æsthetics”, in The Beautiful and Damned, New York, N.Y.: Charles Scribner’s Sons, OCLC 916056193, book 3, page 359:
- For a moment she paused by the taxi-stand and watched them—wondering that but a few years before she had been of their number, ever setting out for a radiant Somewhere, always just about to have that ultimate passionate adventure for which the girls' cloaks were delicate and beautifully furred, for which their cheeks were painted and their hearts higher than the transitory dome of pleasure that would engulf them, coiffure, cloak, and all.
- (law) Of an action: that may be brought in any county
- Antonym: local
- 1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, OCLC 65350522:
- in transitory actions, for injuries that might have happened anywhere
Related terms
- transient
Translations
lasting only a short time — See also translations at transient
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