THURSDAY, JULY 30, 2020 -
https://www.dictionary.com/e/word-of-the-day/
evanescent
[ ev-uh-nes-uhnt ]
adjective
vanishing; fading away; fleeting.
WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF EVANESCENT?
The adjective evanescent, “vanishing, fading,” comes via the French adjective évanescent, from Latin ēvānēscēns (inflectional stem ēvānēscent-), the present participle of the verb ēvānēscere “to disappear, vanish, fade away,” whose root word is the adjective vānus “empty, hollow, illusory,” source of English vain (via Old French). Ēvānēscere is a compound of the preposition and prefix ex-, ē- “out, out of, utterly, completely” and the verb vānēscere “to melt into nothing, vanish.” Ēvānēscere becomes esvanir, evanir in Old French, with a present stem esvaniss-, evaniss-, the source of Middle English vanis(s)hen, “to disappear, disappear suddenly,” English vanish. Evanescent entered English in the early 18th century.
HOW IS EVANESCENT USED?
Readers, after enjoying a book, are desperate not to let go of the characters, the evanescent feeling of being in the text. - DEIRDRE FOLEY MENDELSSOHN, "BOTTLING THE BOOK," THE NEW YORKER, JULY 15, 2010
The pantomime of head-butting and jabbing, with moments when his whole body crumples as if in grief, lasts mere seconds. Every gesture is sharp but evanescent, vanishing as quickly as it takes shape. - SARAH L. KAUFMAN, "IN PAIN AND RAGE, A PROTESTER APPROACHED POLICE. AND THEN HE DANCED," WASHINGTON POST, JUNE, 6, 2020