Vocabulary
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transient
TRAN-shuhnt · adjective, noun · formal
Passing through; staying only briefly.
time
technical
difficulty 2/5
Explain it three ways
Latin transire meant to cross over. A transient is anything mid-crossing: a guest, a signal spike, a feeling that hasn't unpacked its bags.
In use
- A transient fault in the sensor, gone before we could log it.
- The town's transient summer population triples in July.
Origin
Latin transiens, from trans- 'across' + ire 'to go'.