evanescence

E1V4A1N1E1S1C3E1N1C3E1
US, UK/ˌɛv.əˈnɛs.əns/

noun

The act or state of vanishing away; disappearance.

“the evanescence of the morning mist.”

OriginMedieval Latin ēvānēscentia →
CommonScrabble 18
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounevanescence (countable and uncountable, plural evanescences)

plural evanescences

  1. countableuncountableThe act or state of vanishing away; disappearance.

    We suffer equal pain from the pertinacious adhesion of unwelcome images, as from the evanescence of those which are pleasing and useful

    1759 September 1, Samuel Johnson, The Idler
  2. countableuncountableThe event of fading and gradually vanishing from sight.

    the evanescence of the morning mist.

Synonyms & antonyms

Also see
ephemeralityevanescency

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinēvānēscentia
  2. Medieval Latinēvānēscentia
  3. Englishevanescence

Borrowed from Medieval Latin ēvānēscentia.

More words from Medieval Latin

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan evanescència
  • evanescènciafading and vanishing from sight
French évanescence
  • évanescencefading and vanishing from sight
Italian evanescenza
  • evanescenzafading and vanishing from sight
Norwegian Bokmål flyktighet, kortvarighet
  • flyktighetfading and vanishing from sight
  • kortvarighetfading and vanishing from sight
Portuguese evanescência
  • evanescênciafading and vanishing from sight
Russian мимолётность
  • мимолётность (mimoljótnostʹ)fading and vanishing from sight
Spanish evanescencia
  • evanescenciafading and vanishing from sight
Ukrainian зникання, щезання
  • зникання (znykannja)fading and vanishing from sight
  • щезання (ščezannja)fading and vanishing from sight
  • швидкоплинність (švydkoplynnistʹ)fading and vanishing from sight
Cite this entry
APA

evanescence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evanescence

MLA

“evanescence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evanescence. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “evanescence,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/evanescence.

Source: evanescence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.