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transient

adj, noun — 16 senses

transient

adj

UK /ˈtɹan.zi.ənt/ · US /ˈtɹæn.ʃənt/

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

9 senses
  1. 1Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.
  2. 2Remaining for only a brief time.
  3. 3Decaying with time, especially exponentially.
  4. 4unsteady, non--steady-state]].
  5. 5having a positive probability of being left and never…
  6. 6Occasional; isolated; one-off
  7. 7Passing through; passing from one person to another.
  8. 8Intermediate.
  9. 9Operating beyond itself; having an external effect.
1

Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.

  • a transient pleasure
  • this transient world1667, John Milton, “Book X”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:
1 more example
  • Or doth she only seem to take ⁠The touch of change in calm or storm; ⁠But knows no more of transient form In her deep self, than some dead lake That holds the shadow of a lark ⁠Hung in the shadow of a heaven?1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], “Canto XVI”, in In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 26:
2

Remaining for only a brief time.

  • a transient view of a landscape
  • a transient disease
2 more examples
  • Taking advantage of the surprise, which assured him at least transient attention, he continued, addressing himself particularly to Evelyn.1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter IV, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume III, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 27:
  • Traditionally, alumnae have more impact than students, whom the administration views as transient.1980 August 9, Robin Bechhofer, Emmy Goldknopf, “Class Reunion”, in Gay Community News, page 13:
3

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics Decaying with time, especially exponentially.

4

Engineering, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics, Technology unsteady, non--steady-state]].

5

Mathematics, Sciences Of a state having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again.

Stochastic processes

6

Occasional; isolated; one-off

7

Passing through; passing from one person to another.

8

Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music Intermediate.

9

Human sciences, Philosophy, Sciences Operating beyond itself; having an external effect.

Synonyms
passing, transitory, temporary, brief, ephemeral, fleeting, flighty, fugacious
Antonyms
permanent, chronic, inveterate, recurrent, immanent
Derived terms
intransient, nontransient, rotating radio transient, transience, transiency, transient apical ballooning syndrome, transient ischaemic attack, transient ischemic attack, transient luminous event, transiently, transientness, transitoriness, transumer, untransient

transient

noun

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

7 senses
  1. 1Something that is transient.
  2. 2A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current…
  3. 3A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio…
  4. 4A person who passes through a place for a short time; a…
  5. 5A homeless person.
  6. 6A module that generally remains in memory only for a short time.
  7. 7A homestay.
1

Something that is transient.

2

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge.

3

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.

  • Then, within the space of a few months, there were more transients than there were locals, and the imbalance seemed morally wrong.1996, Janette Turner Hospital, Oyster, paperback edition, Virago Press, page 3:
5

A homeless person.

6

Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Programming, Sciences A module that generally remains in memory only for a short time.

  • The overhead in loading transients is a big time-waster.1978, Computerworld, volume 12, number 25, page 26:
  • These areas function to single thread supervisor routines that are loaded as needed. The Logical Transient Area (LTA) processes $$B transients.1990, Gary A. Stotts, DOS/VSE: Introduction to the Operating System, page 102:
1 more example
  • Like with setting and getting transients, WordPress packages a delete_transient() function for deleting a transient from the database.2020, Brad Williams, Justin Tadlock, John James Jacoby, Professional WordPress Plugin Development, page 102:
7

Philippines A homestay.

Synonyms
itinerant, migrant, traveller, homeless, temporary, fleeting, ephemeral, momentary
Derived terms
astronomical transient, fast blue optical transient, fast-evolving luminous transient

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.