transitory

From Middle French transitoire, from Old French, from Latin transitorius

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæn.zɪ.t(ə)ɹɪ/, /ˈtɹæn.sɪ.t(ə)ɹɪ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɹæn.zɪˌtɔɹ.i/, /ˈtɹæn.sɪˌtɔɹ.i/

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transitory (comparative more transitory, superlative most transitory)

1. Lasting only a short time; temporary.
   • 1704, Jonathan Swift, A Tale of a Tub, Section I - The Introduction,

     Secondly, that the materials being very transitory, have suffered much from inclemencies of air, especially in these north-west regions.

   • 1839, Charles Dickens, chapter 38, in Nicholas Nickleby:

     Quite unconscious of the demonstrations of their amorous neighbour, or their effects upon the susceptible bosom of her mama, Kate Nickleby had, by this time, begun to enjoy a settled feeling of tranquillity and happiness, to which, even in occasional and transitory glimpses, she had long been a stranger.

   • 1922, F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Beautiful and Damned, Book Three, Chapter II: A Matter of Aesthetics,

     For a moment she paused by the taxi-stand and watched them--wondering that but a few years before she had been of their number, ever setting out for a radiant Somewhere, always just about to have that ultimate passionate adventure for which the girls' cloaks were delicate and beautifully furred, for which their cheeks were painted and their hearts higher than the transitory dome of pleasure that would engulf them, coiffure, cloak, and all.

2. (law, of an action) That may be brought in any county; opposed to local.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Blackstone to this entry?)

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Bouvier to this entry?)

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral

• transient