English
transitory
Transitory comes from Latin trānseō ‘going across’, and goes back to eō ‘go’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānseōas transit‘going across’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitōrius
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600transitoire
- Englishearliest quotation 1704transitory
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history not traced here.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEeō‘go’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānseōas transit‘going across’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEtrānsitōrius
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600transitoire
- Englishearliest quotation 1704transitory
Earliest quotation: 1704, Jonathan Swift, Section I. The Introduction.: “Secondly, That the Materials being very tranſitory, have ſuffered…”
Linked words
through Latin eō ‘go’
issue, initial, exit, ambitious, ambition, ambient, eyre, obituary, sedition, ambiance, seditious, ambit, obit, praetor, 28 more
through Latin trānseō ‘going across’
Today it means
adj Lasting only a short time; temporary.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin eō / transitory