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Instantaneous vs Transient - What's the difference?

instantaneous | transient |

As adjectives the difference between instantaneous and transient

is that instantaneous is occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time while transient is passing or disappearing with time; transitory.

As a noun transient is

something which is transient.

instantaneous

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Occurring]], [[arise, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.
  • * 1631 , William Twisse, A discovery of D. Iacksons vanitie , ch. 6, p. 223,
    • This instantaneous motion is supposed by you, to be infinitely swift.
  • * 1766 , , The Vicar of Wakefield , ch. 14.
    • However, no lovers in romance ever cemented a more instantaneous friendship.
  • * 1813 , , Pride and Prejudice , ch. 57,
    • The colour now rushed into Elizabeth's cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew.
  • * 1907 , , The Secret Agent , ch. 4,
    • It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.
  • * 2007 , Spector jury given graphic account of actress 'murder' Times Online , London, 30 May (retrieved 13 July 2007),
    • He said that the bullet went through her head, severed her spine and death would have been almost instantaneous .

    Synonyms

    * instant

    Derived terms

    * instantaneously * instantaneity

    References

    * * * * * " instantaneous" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007) * " instantaneous" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary , (Oxford University Press, 2007) * Oxford English Dictionary , second edition (1989) English words suffixed with -aneous

    transient

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Passing or disappearing with time; transitory.
    • a transient pleasure
  • * Milton
    • this transient world
  • Remaining for only a brief time.
    • a transient view of a landscape
  • (physics) Decaying with time, especially exponentially.
  • (mathematics, stochastic processes, of a state) having a positive probability of being left and never being visited again.
  • Occasional; isolated; one-off; individual.
  • Passing through; passing from one person to another.
  • (philosophy) Operating beyond itself; having an external effect.

    • Synonyms

    * (passing) passing, transitory, temporary * (brief) brief, ephemeral, fleeting, flighty, fugacious

    Antonyms

    * (passing) permanent * (brief) permanent * (mathematics) recurrent * (philosophy) immanent

    Derived terms

    * transience * transiently * transientness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something which is transient.
  • (physics) A transient phenomenon, especially an electric current; a very brief surge.
  • (acoustics) A relatively loud, non-repeating signal in an audio waveform which occurs very quickly, such as the attack of a snare drum.
  • A person who passes through a place for a short time; a traveller; a migrant worker
  • * 1996 , , Oyster , Virago Press, paperback edition, page 3
    • Then, within the space of a few months, there were more transients than there were locals, and the imbalance seemed morally wrong.
  • An unhoused person

    • Synonyms

    * (4) traveller: itinerant, migrant, traveller * (5) homeless: homeless

    Anagrams

    * *