momentary

English

Etymology

From Middle English momentare, from Late Latin mōmentārius (“of brief duration”), from mōmentum (“a short time, an instant”). By surface analysis, moment +‎ -ary.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmoʊmənˌtɛɹi/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈməʊmənt(ə)ɹi/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: mo‧men‧ta‧ry

Adjective

momentary (comparative more momentary, superlative most momentary)

1. Lasting for only a moment.
2. (obsolete) Happening at every moment; perpetual.
3. Ephemeral or relatively short-lived.
   • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

     Yet oh! what an immense difference did I feel between this impression of a pleasure merely animal, and struck out of the collision of the sexes by a passive bodily effect, from that sweet fury, that rage of active delight which crowns the enjoyments of a mutual love-passion, where two hearts, tenderly and truly united, club to exalt the joy, and give it a spirit and soul that bids defiance to that end which mere momentary desires generally terminate in, when they die of a surfeit of satisfaction!

   • 1907 January, Harold Bindloss, chapter 20, in The Dust of Conflict, 1st Canadian edition, Toronto, Ont.: McLeod & Allen, →OCLC:

     Tony's face expressed relief, and Nettie sat silent for a moment until the vicar said “It was a generous impulse, but it may have been a momentary one, […] .”

   • 2013, “This Momentary Bliss”, in The Living Infinite, performed by Soilwork:

     My eyes are bleeding / They've searched for someone else / Addicted to the hunt / And end up somewhere else / Where the expendable souls go / There must be more to this / I'm right in here / Stare through a glass wall / I tell you this my friend / We must be bigger / Than momentary bliss / Don't let the light you see restrain you / Don't put your trust in the dark outside / There will be more than you ever could die for / This momentary bliss is a lie / 'Cause my eyes they are bleeding / I'm off to treasure a brand new emotion / I'm taking off like a demon of fate / I reckon something will see my devotion

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral

Derived terms

• intermomentary
• micromomentary
• momentarily
• momentariness
• momentary god
• nonmomentary
• unmomentary

Translations

lasting for only a moment

• Armenian: վայրկենական (hy) (vayrkenakan), րոպեական (hy) (ropeakan)
• Bulgarian: моментен (bg) (momenten), мигновен (bg) (mignoven)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 瞬间 (zh) (shùnjiān)

• Czech: chvilkový
• Esperanto: momenta
• Finnish: hetkellinen (fi)
• French: momentané (fr)
• German: vorübergehend (de)
• Hindi: क्षणभंगुर (hi) (kṣaṇbhaṅgur)
• Hungarian: pillanatnyi (hu)
• Italian: momentaneo (it)
• Latin: mōmentāneus
• Māori: māngina, mōngina, rangitahi
• Polish: chwilowy (pl)
• Portuguese: momentâneo (pt)
• Romanian: momentan (ro), momental, temporar (ro)
• Russian: момента́льный (ru) (momentálʹnyj), мину́тный (ru) (minútnyj), мгнове́нный (ru) (mgnovénnyj), сиюмину́тный (ru) (sijuminútnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: sealach
• Serbo-Croatian: časovit (sh)
• Spanish: momentáneo (es)
• Swedish: ögonblicklig (sv), momentan (sv)
• Urdu: لمحاتی (lamhātī)

perpetual — see perpetual

ephemeral or relatively short-lived

• Armenian: վաղանցիկ (hy) (vaġancʻik)
• Bulgarian: краткотраен (bg) (kratkotraen)
• Esperanto: momenta
• Finnish: hetkellinen (fi), lyhytaikainen (fi)
• German: vorübergehend (de)
• Hungarian: átmeneti (hu), tünékeny (hu), röpke (hu)
• Māori: rangitahi
• Romanian: momentan (ro), efemer (ro)
• Russian: преходя́щий (ru) (prexodjáščij), кратковре́менный (ru) (kratkovrémennyj), сиюмину́тный (ru) (sijuminútnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: sealach
• Serbo-Croatian: trenutan (sh)
• Swedish: flyktig (sv), kortlivad (sv), dagsländelik, efemär (sv)

References

• “momentary”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• manometry