Etymologically
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temporary

Etymology and origin of the English word temporary

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Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1547
Borrowed from
Latin temporarius
Ultimate origin
Latin (temporarius)

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ˈtem.pər.ər.i/, US /ˈtem.pə.rer.i/[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin temporārius (“of seasonal character, lasting a short time”),[2][3] from tempus, temporis “time, season”[2][3] and the suffix -ary.[3][4] It is related to temporal, the earlier word for “lasting only for a time”,[2] and to contemporary, tense, tempo and tempest.[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lasting only for a limited time: 1547–64 in the OED, 1547 in Barnhart, the 1540s in Etymonline.[6][3][2]

Semantic evolution

Belonging to the present life, the same as temporal, is from 1603 and is obsolete.[6] Of the period, passing, is from 1777,[6] and temporary hardness of water, removable by boiling, from 1802.[6] The noun, a person employed for a time, is found in Dickens's Dombey and Son (1846),[3] 1848 in Etymonline and MWU;[2][4] compare temp.[2]

Timeline

  • 1547 – lasting a short time.[3][6]
  • 1603 – of this life (obsolete).[6]
  • 1802 – temporary hardness.[6]
  • 1846 – noun, a temporary employee.[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Lasting or used for only a limited time; not permanent.

Noun

  1. A person employed for a limited time; a temp.

Word family

  • temporarily
  • temporariness
  • untemporary
  • nontemporary

Usage notes

The AHD groups temporary with acting, ad interim, interim and provisional, adjectives for someone doing another's duties for the time being, as in a temporary chairperson.[7]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Temporary.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/temporary. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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