transient

English

Etymology

From stem of Latin transiens, present participle of transire (“to go over, to pass”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæn.zi.ənt/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Adjective

transient (comparative more transient, superlative most transient)

1. 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

2. Remaining for only a brief time.

   a transient view of a landscape

   a transient disease

   • 1834, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, Francesca Carrara, volume 3, page 27:

     Taking advantage of the surprise, which assured him at least transient attention, he continued, addressing himself particularly to Evelyn.

3. (physics) Decaying with time, especially exponentially.
4. (mathematics, stochastic processes, of a state) having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again.
5. Occasional; isolated; one-off
6. Passing through; passing from one person to another.
7. (music) Intermediate.
8. (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

• transience
• transient ischemic attack
• transient luminous event
• transiently
• transientness

 

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 (zh), 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 (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)

1. Something that is transient.
2. (physics) A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge.
3. (acoustics) A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio waveform that occurs very quickly, such as the attack of a snare drum.
4. 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.

5. A homeless person.
6. (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.

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 (zh) (guòkè), 流動人口 (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

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