different between brevity vs ephemerality

English

Etymology

First attested in English in 1509; either:

• Borrowed directly from Latin brevit?s; or
• from Anglo-Norman brevité, from Old French brieveté, from Latin brevit?tem, accusative of brevit?s, from brevis (“short”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?b??v?ti/

Noun

brevity (countable and uncountable, plural brevities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being brief in duration.
2. (uncountable) Succinctness; conciseness.
3. (rare, countable) A short piece of writing.

Synonyms

• (quality of being brief in duration): ephemerality, fleetingness, transiency; see also Thesaurus:transience
• (succinctness): concision, laconicism, terseness; see also Thesaurus:succinctness

Derived terms

• brevitic
• brevity is the soul of wit

Related terms

Translations

See also

• Appendix:Brief amounts of time

English

Etymology

ephemeral +? -ity

Noun

ephemerality (countable and uncountable, plural ephemeralities)

1. (uncountable) The state or condition of being ephemeral; transience.
2. (countable) Something that is ephemeral.
   • 1961, Lewis Mumford, The City in History, Harcourt, Brace & World, p. 242:

     So, too, the multiplication of bathrooms and the over-expenditure on broadly paved motor roads, and above all, the massive collective concentration on glib ephemeralities of all kinds, performed with supreme technical audacity.

Synonyms

• (state or condition of being ephemeral): ephemeralness, evanescence, impermanence, transience, transiency, volatility; see also Thesaurus:transience