temporary English · revision 4921

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1547|origins=la temporarius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈtem.pər.ər.i/, US /ˈtem.pə.rer.i/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|temporārius|t=of seasonal character, lasting a short time]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from tempus, temporis “time, season”^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) and the suffix [[-ary]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[temporal]], the earlier word for “lasting only for a time”,^(Etymonline) and to [[contemporary]], [[tense]], [[tempo]] and [[tempest]].^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Lasting only for a limited time: 1547–64 in the OED, 1547 in Barnhart, the 1540s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Belonging to the present life, the same as temporal, is from 1603 and is obsolete.^(OED 1989) Of the period, passing, is from 1777,^(OED 1989) and ''temporary hardness'' of water, removable by boiling, from 1802.^(OED 1989) The noun, a person employed for a time, is found in Dickens's Dombey and Son (1846),^(Barnhart 1988) 1848 in Etymonline and MWU;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) compare [[temp]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1547 – lasting a short time.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1603 – of this life (obsolete).^(OED 1989)

+ * 1802 – ''temporary hardness''.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1846 – noun, a temporary employee.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Lasting or used for only a limited time; not [[permanent]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A person employed for a limited time; a [[temp]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[temporarily]]

+ * [[temporariness]]

+ * [[untemporary]]

+ * [[nontemporary]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[temporality]]

+ * [[temporal]]

+ * [[contemporary]]

+ * [[tense]]

+ * [[tempo]]

+ * [[tempest]]

+ * [[temp]]

+

+ ==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''.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}