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ephemera

[ih-fem-er-uh]
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noun, plural e·phem·er·as, e·phem·er·ae [ih-fem-uh-ree] /ɪˈfɛm əˌri/ for 2.
  1. a plural of ephemeron.
  2. an ephemerid.
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Origin of ephemera

1670–80; < Greek ephḗmera, neuter plural of ephḗmeros, taken as singular; see ephemeral

ephemeron

[ih-fem-uh-ron, -er-uh n]
noun, plural e·phem·er·a [ih-fem-er-uh] /ɪˈfɛm ər ə/, e·phem·er·ons.
  1. anything short-lived or ephemeral.
  2. ephemera, items designed to be useful or important for only a short time, especially pamphlets, notices, tickets, etc.
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Origin of ephemeron

1570–80; < Greek ephḗmeron short-lived insect, noun use of neuter of ephḗmeros; see ephemeral
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

customer, patron, visitor, caller, companion, inmate, client, recipient, tenant, vacationer, lodger, transient, boarder, frequenter, mate, renter, visitant, company, roomer, ephemera

Examples from the Web for ephemera

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The Ephemera is the fly which is born but to die, living a single hour of love.

    The Insect

    Jules Michelet

  • The Ephemera and probably the other Neuroptera have abdominal spiracles.

  • The cut represents the circulation in the vessels of the larva of an Ephemera.

  • That was it—as indifferent as we could be to the struggle of an ephemera; and as mildly curious.

  • Near the water side I caught an Ephemera, of which I made a drawing and description.

    Lachesis Lapponica

    Carl von Linn

British Dictionary definitions for ephemera

ephemera

noun plural -eras or -erae (-əˌriː)
  1. a mayfly, esp one of the genus Ephemera
  2. something transitory or short-lived
  3. (functioning as plural) a class of collectable items not originally intended to last for more than a short time, such as tickets, posters, postcards, or labels
  4. a plural of ephemeron
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Word Origin

C16; see ephemeral

ephemeron

noun plural -era (-ərə) or -erons
  1. (usually plural) something transitory or short-lived
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Word Origin

C16: see ephemeral
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for ephemera

n.

late 14c., originally a medical term, from Medieval Latin ephemera (febris) "(fever) lasting a day," from fem. of ephemerus, from Greek ephemeros "lasting only one day, short-lived," from epi "on" (see epi-) + hemerai, dative of hemera "day," from PIE *amer- "day."

Sense extended 17c. to short-lived insects and flowers; general sense of "thing of transitory existence" is first attested 1751. Cf. Greek ephemeroi "men," literally "creatures of a day."

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ephemeron

n.

1620s, from Greek (zoon) ephemeron, neuter of ephemeros (see ephemera). Figurative use by 1771.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper