Definition of "evanescent"

He cannot ſuppreſs his diſapprobation […] of thoſe evaneſcent echoes of ſchool philoſophy, faint-warbling through the grove of letters, to the injury of natural and ſcientific knowledge, and the annoyance of English literature.

1779 January, “Minutes of Agriculture, Made on a Farm of 300 Acres, of Various Soils, near Croydon, Surry. […] By Mr. [William Humphrey] Marshall. 4to. 12s. boards. Dodsley. [book review]”, in The Critical Review: Or, Annals of Literature (Series the Fifth), volume XLVII, London: Printed for A. Hamilton, […], page 25

The sea was each little bird's great playmate. […] In their airy flutterings, they seemed to rest on the evanescent spray.

1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Foot-prints on the Sea-shore”, in Twice-Told Tales, volume II, Boston, Mass.: James Munroe and Company, page 314

I trust your love which will work wonders; and I trust my own, which sprang at a look but only gathered strength and permanence when I found that the soul of the man I love bettered his outward attractions, making the ideal of my foolish girlhood seem as unsubstantial and evanescent as a dream in the glowing noontide.

1911, Anna Katharine Green, “The Danger Moment”, in Initials Only, New York, N.Y.: Dodd, Mead & Company, book II (As Seen by Detective Sweetwater), page 188

If the Fluids moving in an Evaneſcent Artery [i.e., a capillary] appear Globular, I ſuppose its becauſe the Canal is round, which alters the Caſe much.

1709 August 22, Archibald Adams, “IV. A Letter from Dr. Archibald Adams to Dr. Hans Sloane, R[oyal] S[ociety] Secr[etary], Concerning the Manner of Making Microscopes, &c. Norwich, August 11, 1709 [Julian calendar]”, in Philosophical Transactions. Giving Some Account of the Present Undertakings, Studies, and Labours of the Ingenious, in Many Considerable Parts of the World, volume XXVII, number 325, London: Printed for H. Clements […] , and W. Innys […] , and D. Brown […], published January–March 1710 (1712 printing), page 26

Here are Sholes and Sholes, of various Characters, and of the moſt diverſified Sizes; from the gigantic Whale, whoſe flouncings "tempeſt the Ocean," to the evaneſcent Anchovy, whoſe Subſtance diſſolves in the ſmalleſt Fircaſſee.

1767, James Hervey, “Letter IX. Theron to Aspasio.”, in Theron and Aspasio: Or, A Series of Dialogues and Letters, upon the Most Important and Interesting Subjects. In Three Volumes, 5th edition, volume III, London: Printed by Charles Rivington, for John and Francis Rivington, […], page 163

Her face too was fresh in colour, but it was of a totally different quality—soft and evanescent, like the light under a heap of rose-petals.

1888 January, Thomas Hardy, “The Withered Arm”, in Wessex Tales: Strange, Lively, and Commonplace […], volume I, London, New York, N.Y.: Macmillan and Co., published 1888, page 64

While he was speaking the hands on the face of the clock behind the great man's back—a heavy, glistening affair of massive scrolls in the same dark marble as the mantelpiece, and with a ghostly, evanescent tick—had moved through the space of seven minutes.

1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter VII, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, page 139

If in the middle of summer the water of Turkey Creek […] is whipped and beaten with a stick, and then if a fire-brand is passed over, a mist is enkindled and a faint evanescent flame runs over the entire width of the brook.

1911, Johann David Schoepf [i.e., Johann David Schoepff], “Return from Pittsburgh”, in Alfred J. Morrison, transl., Travels in the Confederation : From the German, volume I (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia), Philadelphia, Pa.: William J. Campbell, page 290

And I was pale, and clear, and evanescent, like the light, and they were dark, and close, and constant, like the shadow.

1916, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, “[On the Lago di Garda] The Spinner and the Monks”, in Twilight in Italy, London: Duckworth and Co. […], page 32

If we could remove everything from a piece of space, […] then there would still be quantum fluctuations of fields and virtual particles, bouncing to and fro against the wall of nothing. Ironically enough, this piece of space, filled with so many evanescent entities, is nowadays called vacuum. However, this vacuum is not nothing. It is a quantum vacuum to which the argument of the Ancient Greeks does not apply.

2013, Gérard Gousbet, “Understanding Quantum Mechanics”, in Hidden Worlds in Quantum Physics, Mineola, N.Y.: Dover Publications, page 394

It is to be obſerved, farther, that when we annihilate any thing in our Mind, we conſider it as ſomething evaneſcent, and removed out of Sight; […]

1732, William King, “Containing Some Principles Previously Necessary to the Understanding and Solution of the Difficulty about the Origin of Evil”, in Edmund Law, transl., An Essay on the Origin of Evil. […] Translated from the Latin, […], 2nd corrected and enlarged edition, London: Printed by J. Stephens, for W. Thurlbourn […]; and sold by J. Knapton, R. Knaplock and W. Innys […], section II (Of the Enquiry after the First Cause), paragraph X, page 33

But alas! how momentary was the bliss!—the evaneſcent viſion ſoon fled, and the youthful queen [Mary, Queen of Scots] was arrayed in the melancholy garb of widowhood!

1798 February, “Constantia” [pseudonym; Judith Sargent Murray], “No. XLVII”, in The Gleaner. A Miscellaneous Production. In Three Volumes, volume II, printed at Boston, Mass.: By I. Thomas and E. T. Andrews, […], page 138

She comforted him by words of the happiest import, uttered in low tones—but words that sealed their impress on the memory and the heart; but she was now so worn, and appeared so evanescent, that every instant he feared she would expire before him. Isabella saw his suffering, and suggested that "he had better depart—she would herself remain."

1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXI, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 104

In times of strong emotion mankind disdain all base considerations; but such times are evanescent. The permanent constitutional condition of the manufactured man, thought Ahab, is sordidness.

1851 November 14, Herman Melville, “Surmises”, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, page 236