evanescent
pronunciation
How to pronounce evanescent in British English:
UK [ˌi:vəˈnesnt]
How to pronounce evanescent in American English:
US [ˌɛvəˈnɛsənt]
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- Adjective:
- tending to vanish like vapor
Word Origin
- evanescent
- evanescent: see vanish
- evanescent (adj.)
- 1717, "on the point of becoming imperceptible," from French évanescent, from Latin evanescentem (nominative evanescens), present participle of evanescere "disappear, vanish, pass away," figuratively "be forgotten, be wasted," from assimilated form of ex- "out" (see ex-) + vanescere "vanish" (see vanish). Sense of "quickly vanishing, having no permanence" is by 1738.
Example
- 1. A tiny few have accumulated vast wealth but even that has an evanescent , almost ghostly quality .
- 2. The slender evanescent clock was designed to compliment society 's linear understanding of the briefness as well as the permanence of time .
- 3. Yet the invention of technology to capture this evanescent experience has radically changed this essential mode of communication .
- 4. Instead , their role was played by evanescent photons continually popping into existence around the strong pulse .
- 5. Tiny and vast , eternal and evanescent , these are the polarities of a work of art that defies categorization .