volatile

English

Etymology

From Middle French volatile, from Latin volātilis (“flying; swift; temporary; volatile”), from volō (“I fly”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɒl.əˌtaɪ.(ə)l/

  • Audio (UK):

    (file)

• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈvɑ.lə.təl/, [ˈvɑ.lə.tl̩], [ˈvɑ.lə.ɾɫ̩]

Adjective

volatile (comparative more volatile, superlative most volatile)

2. (physics) Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
3. (of a substance, informal) Explosive.
4. (of a price, etc.) Variable or erratic.
   • 2024 November 19, Jeanne Sahadi, “Bitcoin has smashed records. Should you invest?”, in CNN Business‎^[1]:

     Its pricing is highly volatile — and therefore highly risky. For all its nosebleed ascents, bitcoin also has had some gut-punching plunges. Between November 2021 and November 2022, for example, the price of bitcoin dropped 75%, from $64,455 to $16,196, according to data on coinmarketcap.com.

5. (of a person) Quick to become angry or violent.

   a volatile man

6. Fickle.
7. Temporary or ephemeral.
8. (of a situation) Potentially violent.
9. (programming, of a variable etc.) Having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.
   • 2010, Jon Jagger, Nigel Perry, Peter Sestoft, Annotated C# Standard, page 467:

     This method stores a value into a non-volatile field called result, then stores true in the volatile field finished. The main thread waits for the field finished to be set to true, then reads the field result.

10. (computing, of memory) Whose content is lost when the computer is powered down.
11. (obsolete) Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.

(Can we add an example for this sense? )

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:ephemeral

Derived terms

• nonvolatile
• sal volatile
• unvolatile
• volatilely
• volatile memory
• volatile organic compound
• volatility

Translations

evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions

• Afrikaans: vlugtig
• Bulgarian: летлив (bg) (letliv)
• Catalan: volàtil
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 易揮發的 / 易挥发的

• Czech: prchavý m, těkavý
• Dutch: vluchtig (nl), licht ontvlambaar
• Finnish: haihtuva (fi)
• French: volatil (fr)
• Galician: volátil m or f
• Georgian: აქროლადი (akroladi)
• German: volatil (de), flüchtig (de), verdunstend (de)
• Greek: πτητικός (el) m (ptitikós)
• Hebrew: נדיף (he) m (nadif)
• Hungarian: illékony (hu), illó (hu)
• Indonesian: asiri (id), mudah menguap
• Irish: luaineach
• Italian: volatile (it)
• Japanese: 揮発性 (ja) (きはつせい, kihatsusei)
• Javanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 휘발성의 (hwibalseong'ui)
• Macedonian: и́спарлив (ísparliv)
• Malay: meruap (ms)
• Manx: so-ghaalagh
• Maori: tākohukohu
• Norwegian: flyktig
• Ossetian: сысгӕ (sysgæ)
• Polish: lotny (pl)
• Portuguese: volátil (pt)
• Romanian: volatil (ro) m
• Russian: лету́чий (ru) (letúčij)
• Slovak: prchavý m
• Spanish: volátil (es)
• Swedish: flyktig (sv), eterisk (sv)
• Thai: ลบเลือนได้ (lópleuandâi)
• Turkish: uçucu (tr)
• Ukrainian: літки́й m (litkýj)
• Vietnamese: dễ bay hơi
• Welsh: hydarth, anweddol

(informal) explosive

• Finnish: räjähdysherkkä (fi)
• Georgian: ფეთქებადი (petkebadi), ასაფეთქებელი (asapetkebeli)
• Greek: εκρηκτικός (el) m (ekriktikós)
• Indonesian: peledak (id)
• Italian: volatile (it)
• Japanese: 発破 (ja) (happa), (formal) 爆弾 (ja) (bakudan)

(of a price etc) variable or erratic

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 動蕩不定的 / 动荡不定的

• Czech: nestálý
• Finnish: vaihteleva (fi), volatiili
• French: volatil (fr)
• Georgian: ცვალებადი (cvalebadi), არამდგრადი (aramdgradi), არასტაბილური (arasṭabiluri)
• German: schwankend (de), unbeständig (de), unstet (de)
• Greek: ευμετάβλητος (el) m (evmetávlitos), ρευστός (el) m (refstós)
• Hungarian: ingadozó (hu)
• Indonesian: naik turun (id), mudah berubah
• Italian: instabile (it), incostante (it), variabile (it)
• Polish: niestabilny (pl), zmienny (pl)
• Portuguese: instável (pt)
• Russian: изме́нчивый (ru) (izménčivyj)
• Swedish: volatil (sv)
• Ukrainian: мінли́вий (uk) m (minlývyj)

fickle

• Bulgarian: непостоя́нен (bg) (nepostojánen)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 易變的 / 易变的

• Czech: nestálý, přelétavý
• Finnish: häilyväinen
• Georgian: ფიცხი (picxi), ფხუკიანი (pxuḳiani), მერყევი (merq̇evi)
• German: unbeständig (de)
• Greek: ευμετάβλητος (el) m (evmetávlitos), επιπόλαιος (el) m (epipólaios), άστατος (el) m (ástatos)
• Indonesian: rentan (id)
• Italian: volubile (it)
• Macedonian: непо́стојан (nepóstojan), про́менлив (prómenliv)
• Russian: непостоя́нный (ru) (nepostojánnyj), изме́нчивый (ru) (izménčivyj)

quick to become angry

• Czech: náladový, prchlivý, vztahovačný (cs)
• Finnish: räjähdysherkkä (fi)
• Georgian: ფიცხი (picxi)
• German: aufbrausend (de), labil (de)
• Indonesian: darah tinggi (id)
• Italian: suscettibile (it)
• Maori: pūkākā, kirikawa
• Russian: вспыльчивый (ru) (vspylʹčivyj)

temporary or ephemeral

• Bulgarian: временен (bg) (vremenen), краткотраен (bg) (kratkotraen)
• Czech: prchavý
• Dutch: tijdelijk (nl)
• Finnish: häilyväinen, lyhytkestoinen (fi)
• Georgian: დროებითი (droebiti), წარმავალი (c̣armavali)
• German: flüchtig (de)
• Greek: προσωρινός (el) m (prosorinós), εφήμερος (el) m (efímeros)
• Indonesian: sementara (id)
• Italian: temporaneo (it), effimero (it)
• Macedonian: при́времен (prívremen), кратко́траен (kratkótraen)
• Polish: ulotny (pl) m, nieuchwytny (pl) m
• Romanian: efemer (ro) m
• Russian: лету́чий (ru) (letúčij)

(of a situation) potentially violent

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 易怒的

• Czech: výbušný
• Finnish: epävakaa (fi)
• Georgian: მერყევი (merq̇evi), საშიში (sašiši)
• German: brisant (de)
• Greek: εκρηκτικός (el) m (ekriktikós)
• Indonesian: kisruh (id)
• Italian: instabile (it)
• Japanese: 一触即発 (ja) (isshokusokuhatsu)
• Polish: napięty (pl)

(computing, of memory) whose content is lost when the computer is powered down

• Finnish: haihtuva (fi)
• French: volatil (fr)
• German: volatil (de)
• Greek: πτητική (el) (ptitikí) (μνήμη (el) (mními))
• Indonesian: volatil (id), meruap (id)
• Italian: volatile (it)
• Polish: ulotny (pl)
• Russian: энергозависимый (ru) (energozavisimyj)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Esperanto: ^{(please verify)} ekflama
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} volátil (es), ^{(please verify)} inestible

Noun

volatile (plural volatiles)

1. A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.
2. (programming) A variable that is volatile, i.e. has its associated memory immediately updated with any change in value.
   • 2011, Victor Pankratius, Ali-Reza Adl-Tabatabai, Walter Tichy, Fundamentals of Multicore Software Development, page 74:

     Operations on C++ volatiles do put the compiler on notice that the object may be modified asynchronously, and hence are generally safer to use than ordinary variable accesses.

French

Etymology

Compare volaille.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /vɔ.la.til/

• Audio (Switzerland (Valais)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

  (file)

Adjective

volatile

1. feminine singular of volatil

Noun

volatile m (plural volatiles)

1. fowl, bird

Further reading

• “volatile”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

German

Pronunciation

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Adjective

volatile

1. inflection of volatil:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From Latin volātilis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /voˈla.ti.le/
• Rhymes: -atile
• Hyphenation: vo‧là‧ti‧le

Adjective

volatile m or f by sense (plural volatili)

1. (chemistry, physics) volatile
2. flying

   Synonym: volante

Noun

volatile m (plural volatili)

1. bird, fowl

   Synonym: uccello

2. (vulgar) penis

Further reading

• volatile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [wɔˈɫaː.tɪ.ɫɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [voˈlaː.ti.le]

Adjective

volātile

1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of volātilis

References

• "volatile", in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)