Definition of EVANESCENT

evanescent

Meanings

Adjective Satellite

  • tending to vanish like vapor
    • "evanescent beauty"

Adj

  • Disappearing, vanishing.
  • Of an oscillating electric or magnetic field: not propagating as an electromagnetic wave but having its energy spatially concentrated in the vicinity of its source.
  • Disappearing, vanishing.
  • Of a number or value: diminishing to the point of reaching zero as a limit; infinitesimal.
  • Disappearing, vanishing.
  • Barely there; almost imperceptible.
  • Ephemeral, fleeting, momentary.
  • Ephemeral, fleeting, momentary.
  • Of plant parts: shed after a period.

Origin / Etymology

Borrowed from French évanescent (“evanescent”), from Latin ēvānēscēns (“disappearing, vanishing”), present participle of ēvānēscō (“to disappear, vanish; to die out, fade away; to lapse”), from ē- (variant of ex- (prefix meaning ‘away, out’)) + vānēscō (“to vanish”) (from vānus (“empty, vacant, void”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁weh₂- (“to abandon, leave”)) + -ēscō (suffix forming verbs with the sense ‘to become’)).

Scrabble Score: 15

evanescent is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
evanescent is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
evanescent is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 19

evanescent is a valid Words With Friends word