evanescent

Definition

Disappearing, vanishing.

Etymology

Borrowed from French évanescent (“evanescent”), from Latin ēvānēscēns (“disappearing, vanishing”), present participle of ēvānēscō (“to disappear, vanish; to die out, fade away; to lapse”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away, out’)) + vānēscō (“to vanish”) (from vānus (“empty, vacant, void”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to abandon, leave”)) + -ēscō (suffix forming verbs with the sense ‘to become’)).

Example Sentences

• "He cannot ſuppreſs his diſapprobation […] of thoſe evaneſcent echoes of ſchool philoſophy, faint-warbling through the grove of letters, to the injury of natural and ſcientific knowledge, and the annoyance of English literature."
• "The sea was each little bird's great playmate. […] In their airy flutterings, they seemed to rest on the evanescent spray."
• "I trust your love which will work wonders; and I trust my own, which sprang at a look but only gathered strength and permanence when I found that the soul of the man I love bettered his outward attractions, making the ideal of my foolish girlhood seem as unsubstantial and evanescent as a dream in the glowing noontide."

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