transient

English

Etymology

From Late Latin transiēnt- (for classical transeunt-), stem of transiēns, present participle of transire (“to go over, to pass”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹan.zi.ənt/, /ˈtɹɑːn.zi.ənt/, /-si.ənt/
(US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæn.ʃənt/, /ˈtɹæn.ʃənt/, /ˈtɹæn.si.ənt/, /ˈtɹæn.zi.ənt/

Adjective

transient (comparative more transient, superlative most transient)

Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.
a transient pleasure
- 1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], […], OCLC 228722708; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, OCLC 230729554:
  this transient world
Remaining for only a brief time.
a transient view of a landscape

a transient disease
- 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), OCLC 630079698, page 27:
  Taking advantage of the surprise, which assured him at least transient attention, he continued, addressing himself particularly to Evelyn.
(physics) Decaying with time, especially exponentially.
(mathematics, stochastic processes, of a state) having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again.
Occasional; isolated; one-off
Passing through; passing from one person to another.
(music) Intermediate.
(philosophy) Operating beyond itself; having an external effect.

Synonyms

(passing): passing, transitory, temporary
(brief): brief, ephemeral, fleeting, flighty, fugacious

Antonyms

(passing): permanent
(brief): permanent, inveterate
(mathematics): recurrent
(philosophy): immanent

Derived terms

Translations

passing or disappearing with time; transitory

Arabic: مُؤَقَّت‎ (muʾaqqat), سَريع الزوال‎, اِبْنُ ساعَتِهِ‎ (ibnu sāʿatihi), زَمَنِيّ‎ (zamaniyy)
Bulgarian: преходен (bg) (prehoden)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 短暫的／短暂的 (zh) (duǎnzàn de)
Danish: overgående
Dutch: vergankelijk (nl), eindig (nl)
Finnish: ohimenevä (fi), katoava (fi), katoavainen (fi), häipyvä (fi)
French: passager (fr), provisoire (fr), transitoire (fr), temporaire (fr)
Galician: transitorio
Georgian: წარმავალი (c̣armavali), გადამავალი (gadamavali), დროებითი (droebiti)
German: vergänglich (de), vorübergehend (de), temporär (de), instationär, Übergangs- (prefix), unbeständig (de), Ausgleichs- (prefix), abklingend
Greek: παροδικός (el) (parodikós), πρόσκαιρος (el) m (próskairos)
Irish: díomuan, duthain
Italian: transitorio (it) m
Japanese: 儚い (ja) (はかない, hakanai)
Norwegian:
Bokmål: transitorisk

Nynorsk: transitorisk
Occitan: transitòri (oc)
Portuguese: transitório (pt)
Romanian: trecător (ro), efemer (ro), tranzient (ro), tranzitoriu (ro), vremelnic (ro)
Russian: преходя́щий (ru) (prexodjáščij), мимолётный (ru) (mimoljótnyj), недолгове́чный (ru) (nedolgovéčnyj), скороте́чный (ru) (skorotéčnyj), кратковре́менный (ru) (kratkovrémennyj), транзито́рный (ru) (tranzitórnyj)
Spanish: transitorio (es)
Swedish: övergående (sv), förgänglig (sv), flyktig (sv)

remaining for only a brief time

Bulgarian: краткотраен (bg) (kratkotraen), мимолетен (bg) (mimoleten)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 瞬間／瞬间 (zh) (shùnjiān)
Danish: midlertidig (da)
Dutch: kortstondig (nl)
Finnish: lyhytaikainen (fi), hetkellinen
French: bref (fr), éphémère (fr), fugace (fr)
Georgian: დროებითი (droebiti), ხანმოკლე (xanmoḳle), დრომოკლე (dromoḳle), წუთიერი (c̣utieri), წამიერი (c̣amieri)
German: kurzzeitig (de), flüchtig (de), kurzlebig (de), passager (de)
Greek: παροδικός (el) (parodikós), εφήμερος (el) m (efímeros), φευγαλέος (el) m (fevgaléos)
Indonesian: transien
Irish: díomuan, duthain
Japanese: 瞬間的 (shunkanteki), 一時的 (ja) (ichijiteki), 一過性 (ikkasei)
Maori: rangitahi, tūao
Occitan: fugidís (oc)
Romanian: trecător (ro)
Russian: временный (ru) (vremennyj)
Swedish: kortvarig (sv), flyktig (sv)

Decaying with time, especially exponentially

Danish: flyktig
German: kurzlebig (de), flüchtig (de), zerfallend (de)
Greek: εφήμερος (el) m (efímeros)
Japanese: 過渡 (ja) (kato)

mathematics: having positive probability of being left

German: transient (de)
Hebrew: חולף‎ (choléf)

occasional; isolated; one-off; individual

Danish: engangs-
German: gelegentlich (de), isoliert (de), einmalig (de), Augenblicks- (prefix)
Russian: случа́йный (ru) (slučájnyj), отде́льный (ru) (otdélʹnyj)

passing through; passing from one person to another

Bulgarian: преходен (bg) (prehoden)
German: Durchgangs- (prefix), durchlaufend (de), Ausgleichs- (prefix), mobil (de)
Japanese: 過渡 (ja) (kato)

operating beyond itself; having an external effect

Greek: ενυπάρχων m (enypárchon)
Japanese: 精神の外部

Noun

transient (plural transients)

Something that is transient.
(physics) A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge.
(acoustics) A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio waveform that occurs very quickly, such as the attack of a snare drum.
A person who passes through a place for a short time; a traveller; a migrant worker.
- 1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, Virago Press, paperback edition, page 3
  Then, within the space of a few months, there were more transients than there were locals, and the imbalance seemed morally wrong.
A homeless person.
(programming, historical) A module that generally remains in memory only for a short time.
- 1978, Computerworld (volume 12, number 25, page 26)
  The overhead in loading transients is a big time-waster.
- 1990, Gary A. Stotts, DOS/VSE: Introduction to the Operating System (page 102)
  These areas function to single thread supervisor routines that are loaded as needed. The Logical Transient Area (LTA) processes $B transients.
(Philippines) homestay

Synonyms

(traveller): itinerant, migrant, traveller
(homeless person): homeless

Translations

something transient

Bulgarian: преход (bg) m (prehod)
Danish: overgang c
German: Übergang (de) m
Japanese: 一時的なもの (ichijitekina mono)

physics

Bulgarian: транзиента f (tranzienta)
German: Transiente f
Italian: transiente (it)
Japanese: 過渡現象 (kato genshō)

acoustics

German: Einschwingungsvorgang m

traveller

Bulgarian: приходящ гост m (prihodjašt gost)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 過客／过客 (zh) (guòkè), 流動人口／流动人口 (zh)
French: itinérant (fr)
German: Reisende (de) f, Reisender (de) m, Durchreisende f, Durchreisender m
Greek: περιοδεύων (el) m (periodévon)
Hungarian: átutazó (hu)
Japanese: 渡り労働者 (watari rōdōsha)
Spanish: trotamundo, transeúnte (es)

homeless

Finnish: koditon (fi)
French: clochard (fr), clodo (fr), sans-abri (fr), SDF (fr)
German: Obdachlose (de) f, Obdachloser (de) m
Japanese: ホームレス (hōmuresu)

Anagrams

insertant, instanter, intranets

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