Ephemeral vs Errant - What's the difference?
ephemeral | errant | Related terms |
Lasting for a short period of time.
* Vicesimus Knox
* Sir J. Stephen
* '>citation
(biology) Existing for only one day, as with some flowers, insects, and diseases.
(geology, of a body of water) Usually dry, but filling with water for brief periods during and after precipitation.
* 1986 , W.H. Raymond, "Clinoptilolite Deposit in the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, South Dakota, U.S.A.", in Y?ichi Murakami et al. (editors), New Developments in Zeolite Science and Technology (conference proceedings), Elsevier, ISBN 978-0-444-98981-9,
Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
* Sir Thomas Browne
Prone to making errors.
(proscribed) Utter, complete (negative); arrant.
* Ben Jonson
Ephemeral is a related term of errant.
As adjectives the difference between ephemeral and errant
is that ephemeral is lasting for a short period of time while errant is straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.As a noun ephemeral
is something which lasts for a short period of time.ephemeral
English
(wikipedia ephemeral)Synonyms
* (short-lived) ephemeronAdjective
(en adjective)- Esteem, lasting esteem, the esteem of good men, like himself, will be his reward, when the gale of ephemeral popularity shall have gradually subsided.
- sentences not of ephemeral , but of eternal, efficacy
- It was during an access of this kind that I suddenly left my home, and bending my steps towards the near Alpine valleys, sought in the magnificence, the eternity of such scenes, to forget myself and my ephemeral , because human, sorrows.
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- The graben constitutes a depositional basin and a topographic low, underlain by Cretaceous shales, in which volcanic debris accumulated in ephemeral lakes and streams in Oligocene and early Miocene time.
Synonyms
* (lasting for a short period of time) temporary, transitory, fleeting, evanescent, momentary, short-lived, short, volatile * See alsoAntonyms
* (lasting for a long period of time) permanent, eternal, everlasting, timeless.Derived terms
* ephemerallyExternal links
* *errant
English
Alternative forms
* (l) (obsolete)Adjective
(en adjective)- seven planets or errant stars in the lower orbs of heaven
- would make me an errant fool
Usage notes
Sometimes is considered simply an alternative spelling and pronunciation of errant', though many authorities distinguish them, reserving '''errant''' to mean “wandering” and using it ''after'' the noun it modifies, notably is “knight '''errant ”, while using ''arrant'' to mean “utter”, in a negative sense, and ''before'' the noun it modifies, notably in “''arrant knaves”. Etymologically, arrant arose as a variant of errant , but the meanings have long since diverged. Both terms are archaic, primarily used in set phrases (which may be considered ), and are easily confused, and on that basis some authorities suggest against using either.Synonyms
*Derived terms
* (l) * (l)References
* “arrant/errant”, Common Errors in English Usage, Paul Brians *
On Language: Arrant Nonsense, (William Safire), January 22, 2006, (New York Times) * Merriam–Webster’s dictionary of English usage, 1995,
“errant, arrant”, pp. 406–407