transient

[ tran-shuhnt, -zhuhnt, -zee-uhnt ]

/ ˈtræn ʃənt, -ʒənt, -zi ənt /

adjective

not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.

lasting only a short time; existing briefly; temporary: transient authority.

staying only a short time: the transient guests at a hotel.

Philosophy. transeunt.

noun

a person or thing that is transient, especially a temporary guest, boarder, laborer, or the like.

Mathematics.

a function that tends to zero as the independent variable tends to infinity.
a solution, especially of a differential equation, having this property.

Physics.

a nonperiodic signal of short duration.
a decaying signal, wave, or oscillation.

Electricity. a sudden pulse of voltage or current.

Nearby words

transhiatal esophagectomy, tranship, transhumance, transhumanism, transience, transient, transient acantholytic dermatosis, transient hypogammaglobulinemia of infancy, transient ischemic attack, transient modulation, transient synovitis

Origin of transient

1590–1600; < Latin transi(ēns) (nominative singular), present participle of transīre to pass by, literally, go across + -ent; see transeunt

SYNONYMS FOR transient

2 fleeting, flitting, flying, fugitive, evanescent. See temporary.

ANTONYMS FOR transient

2 permanent.

Related forms

tran·sient·ly, adverbtran·sient·ness, nounnon·tran·sient, adjectivenon·tran·sient·ly, adverb

non·tran·sient·ness, nounun·tran·sient, adjectiveun·tran·sient·ly, adverbun·tran·sient·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for non-transient

transient

/ (ˈtrænzɪənt) /

adjective

for a short time only; temporary or transitory

philosophy a variant of transeunt

noun

a transient person or thing

physics a brief change in the state of a system, such as a sudden short-lived oscillation in the current flowing through a circuit

Derived Forms

transiently, adverbtransience or transiency, noun

Word Origin for transient

C17: from Latin transiēns going over, from transīre to pass over, from trans- + īre to go

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