English Meaning & Definitions
Lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.
- “The company provided temporary housing for employees displaced by the fire.”
- “We used a temporary patch to fix the leak until the plumber could arrive.”
A person employed on a short-term basis, typically an office worker.
- “The agency sent a temporary to cover the receptionist's maternity leave.”
- “She worked as a temporary for several months while searching for a permanent career.”
English Synonyms & Near Equivalents
Comprehensive Thesaurus Breakdown
Compare formal, informal, literary synonyms and register nuances for “temporary”.
Derived from the Latin 'temporarius', meaning 'lasting for a time', which itself comes from 'tempus', meaning 'time'. It shares a root with 'temporal' and 'contemporary', reflecting the concept of things existing within a specific span of time.
Think of 'temp' as in 'temperature'—it changes constantly and is never permanent.
Frequently Asked Questions About “temporary”
1. What is the meaning of “temporary” in English?
In English, temporary (adjective) is defined as: “Lasting for only a limited period of time; not permanent.”.
2. How do you use “temporary” in a sentence?
“The company provided temporary housing for employees displaced by the fire.”
3. What are English synonyms of “temporary”?
4. What is the etymology and word origin of “temporary”?
Derived from the Latin 'temporarius', meaning 'lasting for a time', which itself comes from 'tempus', meaning 'time'. It shares a root with 'temporal' and 'contemporary', reflecting the concept of things existing within a specific span of time.
🇬🇧More English Words to English
View all English words →The base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), equal to the duration of 9,192,631,770 periods of the radiation corresponding to the transition between the two hyperfine levels of the ground state of the caesium-133 atom.
A specific duration of time equal to one hour and forty-six minutes and twelve seconds.
The cardinal number equal to one thousand million (1,000,000,000), expressed in scientific notation as 10^9.
A specific duration of time equivalent to one hour and forty-six minutes.