Nearby Words

temporary

[tem-puh-rer-ee] Origin

tem·po·rar·y

[tem-puh-rer-ee] adjective, noun, plural -rar·ies.
adjective
1.
lasting, existing, serving, or effective for a time only; not permanent: a temporary need; a temporary job.
noun
2.
an office worker hired, usually through an agency on a per diem basis, for a short period of time.

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Temporary is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.

Origin:
1540–50; < Latin temporārius, equivalent to tempor- (stem of tempus) time + -ārius -ary

tem·po·rar·i·ly [tem-puh-rair-uh-lee, tem-puh-rer-] , adverb
tem·po·rar·i·ness, noun
non·tem·po·rar·i·ly, adverb
non·tem·po·rar·i·ness, noun
non·tem·po·rar·y, adjective
EXPAND
un·tem·po·rar·y, adjective
COLLAPSE


1. impermanent, passing. Temporary, transient, transitory agree in referring to that which is not lasting or permanent. Temporary implies an arrangement established with no thought of continuance but with the idea of being changed soon: a temporary structure. Transient describes that which is in the process of passing by, and which will therefore last or stay only a short time: a transient condition. Transitory describes an innate characteristic by which a thing, by its very nature, lasts only a short time: Life is transitory.


1. permanent.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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World English Dictionary
temporary (ˈtɛmpərərɪ, ˈtɛmprərɪ)
 
adj
1.  not permanent; provisional: temporary accommodation
2.  lasting only a short time; transitory: temporary relief from pain
 
n , -raries
3.  Often shortened to: temp a person, esp a secretary or other office worker, employed on a temporary basis
 
[C16: from Latin temporārius, from tempus time]
 
'temporarily
 
adv
 
'temporariness
 
n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

temporary
1547, from L. temporarius "of seasonal character, lasting a short time," from tempus (gen. temporis) "time, season." The noun meaning "person employed only for a time" is recorded from 1848.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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