temporary

Pluraltemporaries

1. 1
   adjective

   Lasting only for a period or periods of time, rather than permanently.

   Like scaffolding around a building: up only while the work is being done, then taken away.

   The city set up temporary shelters for families displaced by the flood.

   Her appointment to the board is temporary, lasting only until the next election.

   Similarprovisional, interim, makeshift, short-term

   Oppositepermanent

   Note

   Latin supplies the whole idea: temporarius, from tempus, "time," describes what belongs to a stretch of time rather than to all time. The word often attaches to roles and arrangements, such as temporary charge of a department, where something more lasting is expected to follow. The "short-lived" meaning narrows the focus to brevity itself. This one only rules out permanence, however long the period runs.

2. 2
   adjective

   Existing only for a short time or short times; brief and quickly passing.

   Like a shooting star: bright for a moment, then gone.

   The medication brought temporary relief that faded within the hour.

   Spring blossoms are temporary, lasting only a week before they fall.

   Similarbrief, fleeting, passing, transient, momentary

   Oppositelasting, permanent, enduring

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A worker employed for a limited time, especially someone filling a short-term office role.

   Like an understudy stepping in for a short run, then moving on.

   The agency sent over a temporary to handle the holiday rush.

   Several temporaries were brought in to process the backlog of claims.

   Similartemp, floater

   Note

   Here the adjective is put to work as a noun for a person, someone brought in to fill a gap. Its plural follows the usual -y pattern, temporaries, and its everyday synonyms are temp and floater. Temp is also the short form of the programmer's variable, so context decides whether a temp is a colleague or a value in code.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A short-lived variable that holds an intermediate result during a computation.

   Like jotting a figure on the back of your hand just long enough to use it.

   The compiler creates a temporary to hold the intermediate sum before assigning it.

   Swapping two values often requires a temporary to avoid losing data.

   Similartemp

   Note

   A programmer's noun made from the adjective, naming a value by how briefly it is needed. It holds a result partway through a calculation and has no further use once the larger step is done. The classic case is swapping two variables, where one value must be parked somewhere before it is overwritten. In code and in conversation it is usually shortened to temp.

Showing meanings only. Show all 4