Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Passing with time; transitory.
  • adjective Remaining in a place only a brief time.
  • adjective Physics Decaying with time, especially as a simple exponential function of time.
  • noun One that is transient, especially a hotel guest or boarder who stays for only a brief time.
  • noun Physics A transient phenomenon or property, especially a transient electric current.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Passing across, as from one thing or person to another; communicated.
  • Passing with time; of short duration; not permanent; not lasting or durable; temporary; as, a transient impression.
  • Hasty; momentary; passing: as, a transient glance of a landscape.
  • In music, intermediate—that is, serving as a connective, but unessential in itself: as, a transient chord, modulation, or note. Compare passing-note.
  • SynonymsTransient, Transitory, Fleeting. Strictly, transient marks the fact that a thing soon passes or will soon pass away: as, a transient impression; a transient shadow. Transitory indicates that lack of permanence is in the nature of the thing; as, transitory pleasure; this transitory life. Fleeting is by figure a stronger word than transient, though in the same line of meaning. See list under transitory.
  • noun One who or that which is temporary, passing, or not permanent.
  • noun Specifically A transient gruest.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun That which remains but for a brief time.
  • adjective Passing before the sight or perception, or, as it were, moving over or across a space or scene viewed, and then disappearing; hence, of short duration; not permanent; not lasting or durable; not stationary; passing; fleeting; brief; transitory.
  • adjective Hasty; momentary; imperfect; brief.
  • adjective Colloq. U. S. Staying for a short time; not regular or permanent.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.
  • adjective Remaining for only a brief time.
  • adjective physics Decaying with time, especially exponentially.
  • adjective mathematics having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again.
  • adjective Occasional; isolated; one-off; individual.
  • adjective Passing through; passing from one person to another.
  • adjective philosophy Operating beyond itself; having an external effect.
  • noun Something which is transient.
  • noun physics A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge.
  • noun acoustics A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio waveform which occurs very quickly, such as the attack of a snare drum.
  • noun A person who passes through a place for a short time; a traveller; a migrant worker
  • noun An unhoused person

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of a mental act; causing effects outside the mind
  • adjective lasting a very short time
  • noun (physics) a short-lived oscillation in a system caused by a sudden change of voltage or current or load
  • noun one who stays for only a short time

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of Latin trānsiēns, trānseunt-, present participle of trānsīre, to go over : trāns-, over; see trans– + īre, to go; see ei- in Indo-European roots.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

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

Support

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Examples

  • Getting a saved transient is just like getting an option: get_transient ($transient);

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • Getting a saved transient is just like getting an option: get_transient ($transient);

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • $transient the unique slug used while saving the transient with set_transient ().

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2010

  • $transient the unique slug used while saving the transient with set_transient ().

    Codex - Recent changes [en] 2009

  • Most of what you print is what we call transient print.

    Paper Trail 2009

  • The blood vessels of the heart, the neck, the brain, they're all very similar, so you build up plaques in different ways and it is possible, one cause of seizure is stroke or even what we call transient ischemic attack, a stroke that's in development but then the body can clear a blood vessel blockage.

    CNN Transcript May 18, 2008 2008

  • And it is possible one cause of seizure is stroke or even what we call a transient ischemic attack, a stroke that's in development, but then the body can clear a blood vessel blockage.

    CNN Transcript May 17, 2008 2008

  • We'd come in from the coolness of the outer system, chasing what they described as a transient event, a hole in space time.

    Converting obscure music files from one format to another sbisson 2004

  • Transumerism, coming from the term transient, it's more 'I don't want to be attached to the possession' more 'I'm attached to the experiences, "' said Alexandra Aguirre Rodriguez, assistant marketing professor at Florida International University.

    unknown title 2009

  • Transumerism, coming from the term transient, it's more 'I don't want to be attached to the possession' more 'I'm attached to the experiences,'"said Alexandra Aguirre Rodriguez, assistant marketing professor at Florida International University.

    The Roanoke Times: Home page 2009

Comments

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  • He had a piano, a few books: picked up transient acquaintances of a day, week, or month in the stream of travellers from all Europe.

    Joseph Conrad, "Il Conde"

    July 24, 2011

  • Do we suppose that the Century's "n. Specifically A transient gruest" is actually a transient "guest?"

    January 26, 2015

  • gru, gruer, gruest
    thus grammar be cut and sluiced
    and come the toll of high noon
    you'll be singing our tune:
    zuzu, zuzuer, zuzuest

    January 26, 2015

  • Brackets around "zuzu, zuzuer, zuzuest" please, bilby.

    January 27, 2015

  • zuzu, zuzuer, zuzuest, voila!

    January 27, 2015

  • Thank you!

    January 29, 2015