fleetingn.1
/ˈfliːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈflidɪŋ/ The action of the verb in various senses.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > action or process of floating > [noun]
fleeting1489
floating1555
supernatation1623
swimming1719
flotation1806
the world > life > the body > digestive or excretive organs > digestive organs > [noun] > digestion
defyingc1315
digestionc1386
digest1398
seething1398
concoction?1531
concocting1541
decoction1541
digesting1541
digesture1565
enduing1575
fleeting1581
elixation1621
coction1667
the world > life > death > [noun] > of soul: leaving body
fleeting1587
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [noun] > transience
frailnessa1300
timelinessa1500
transitoriness1550
fleeting1616
temporality1635
wanzingness1642
transiency1647
impermanency1648
undurableness1648
transientness1653
fugacity1656
evanidness1659
fugaciousness1664
timeishness1674
timesomeness1674
volatilenessa1676
fleetingness1709
deciduousness1727
fleetness1727
momentaneousness1727
preterience1730
transience1739
evanescence1751
unpermanency1751
transitiveness1775
caducity1793
impermanence1796
ephemerality1822
passingness1839
transitionalness1880
anitya1882
diariness1891
anicca1904
ephemeralness1911
1489 (a1380) J. Barbour Bruce (Adv.) iii. 588 To furthyr thaim off thar fleting.
1581 R. Mulcaster Positions xx. 83 It [sc. walking] is good..for the iaundise, costifnesse, fleeting of the meat in the stomacke.
1587 Sir P. Sidney & A. Golding tr. P. de Mornay Trewnesse Christian Relig. xv. 262 The fleeting of soules out of one body into another.
1616 T. Gainsford Rich Cabinet f. 95v The proudest confidence maketh our chiefest footing a changeable fleeting.
1871 E. B. Tylor Primitive Culture I. 127 One of the best known of English witch ordeals is the trial by ‘fleeting’ or swimming.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fleetingn.2
/ˈfliːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈflidɪŋ/ Obsolete exc. dialect.
a. The action of skimming a liquid, esp. milk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > physical sensation > cleanness and dirtiness > freedom from impurities > removal of impurities > removal of scum > [noun]
fleetingc1440
scumming1611
skimming1611
despumation1617
c1440 Promptorium Parvulorum 167/1 Fletynge of lycowre, spumacio, despumacio.
1474 in Coll. Ordinances Royal Househ. (1790) *32 The maister cooke hath the fleetinge of the leade.
1615 G. Markham Eng. House-wife (1668) ii. vi. 145 The fleeting or gathering of your Cream from the Milk.
b. concrete in plural. Skimmings, curds (see quots.).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dairy produce > [noun] > milk > curds
curd1378
slipc1425
wrench-milk1510
well curds1538
float-wheyc1550
ricoct1582
curdlea1591
bonny clabber1605
fleeting1611
clabber1634
yearned milk?1635
trouts1683
sweet-cheese1688
earning1744
slip curd1784
1611 R. Cotgrave Dict. French & Eng. Tongues Sarrason, fleetings, or hastie curds scumd from the whey of a new-milke cheese, then thickened [etc.].
1845 H. White in Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 6 i. 121 The last skimmings are termed fleetings, and are generally reserved for the use of the servants.
1873 E. Smith Foods 329 When butter-milk is added to boiling whey..a soft curd is thrown down. This mixture is called fleetings in Wales.
Compounds
attributive and in other combinations.
fleeting-dish n. a dish used for skimming cream from milk.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > food manufacture and preparation > preparation of dairy produce > [noun] > formation of cream > creaming-dish
fleeting-dish1736
creamer1858
creaming-dish1858
1736 N. Bailey Dict. Domesticum 181 Taking off the cream with a fleeting dish.
1847 Jrnl. Royal Agric. Soc. 8 i. 75 This is..skimmed with a common fleeting-dish.
fleeting-milk n. skim-milk; in quot. figurative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > wholeness > incompleteness > part of whole > that which is left or remainder > [noun] > leavings after main part exhausted
leaving1340
leavingc1350
beleavingc1440
residence?1545
afterings1609
refuse1665
fleeting-milka1670
tailings1764
rinsing1812
a1670 J. Hacket Scrinia Reserata (1693) i. 19 It was the flitting milk of a poor Vicarage, the parsonage tithes being scumm'd from it.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
fleetingn.3
/ˈfliːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈflidɪŋ/ A particular kind of trawling (see quot. 1884).
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > hunting > fishing > type or method of fishing > [noun] > fishing with net > trawl-netting
trawling1561
trawl1630
pole trawling1774
fleeting1884
trawl-fishing1895
overtrawling1913
pair trawling1976
1884 Daily News 18 Sept. 5/2 The new ‘fleeting’ system, by which fishing boats are now kept at sea for a considerable time while fast steamers ply between them and the shore, carrying the fish as they are caught.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
† fleetingn.4
Obsolete.
Confinement in the Fleet Prison.
ΘΚΠ
society > authority > punishment > imprisonment > prison > [noun] > specific prisons > confinement in Fleet
fleeting1583
1583 Sir T. Smith's De Republica Anglorum iii. iv. 97 After they had..beene well disciplined as well by words as by fleeting a while.
1592 G. Harvey Foure Lett. iii, in Wks. (1884) I. 183 And that was all the Fleeting, that euer I felt.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2021).
fleetingadj.
/ˈfliːtɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈflidɪŋ/ That fleets, in senses of the verb.† 1. Floating; of a fish: Swimming. Obsolete.† 2. That moves constantly, shifting, unstable, wandering; hence of a person or his attributes: Changeable, fickle, inconstant, vacillating. Obsolete.† 3. Flowing; fluid. fleeting sacrifices n. drink offerings. Obsolete.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > action or process of floating > [adjective]
fleetingOE
superfluent?1440
floating1600
supernatant1607
innatant1657
waterborne1675
supernate1899
the world > matter > properties of materials > lightness > [adjective] > rising due to lightness > buoyant > resting on surface of liquid
fleetingOE
floating1600
fluitant1676
OE Genesis 1447 Se feonde gespearn fleotende hreaw.
1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 491 Þe fletinge fihs þat in þe fom lepen.
1578 H. Lyte tr. R. Dodoens Niewe Herball i. lxxi. 106 Amongst the fleeting herbes there is also a certayne herbe which some call Water Lyverworte.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective]
slidinga900
wankleeOE
windyc1000
unsteadfastc1200
fleeting?c1225
loose?c1225
brotelc1315
unstablec1340
varyingc1340
variantc1374
motleyc1380
ungroundedc1380
muablea1393
passiblea1393
remuablea1393
changeablea1398
movablea1398
variablec1397
slidderya1400
ticklec1400
variantc1412
flitting1413
mutable?a1425
movingc1425
flaskisable1430
flickering1430
transmutablec1430
vertible1447
brittlea1450
ficklea1450
permutablec1450
unfirmc1450
uncertain1477
turnable1483
unsteadfast1483
vagrantc1522
inconstant1526
alterable?1531
stirringc1540
slippery1548
various1552
slid?1553
mutala1561
rolling1561
weathery1563
unconstant1568
interchangeable1574
fluctuant1575
stayless1575
transitive1575
voluble1575
changeling1577
queasy1579
desultory1581
huff-puff1582
unstaid1586
vagrant1586
changeful1590
floating1594
Protean1594
unstayed1594
swimming1596
anchorless1597
mobilec1600
ticklish1601
catching1603
labile1603
unrooted1604
quicksilvered1605
versatile1605
insubstantial1607
uncertain1609
brandling1611
rootless1611
squeasy1611
wind-changinga1616
insolid1618
ambulatory1625
versatilous1629
plastic1633
desultorious1637
unbottomed1641
fluid1642
fluent1648
yea-and-nay1648
versipellous1650
flexile1651
uncentred1652
variating1653
chequered1656
slideable1662
transchangeative1662
weathercock-like1663
flicketing1674
fluxa1677
lapsable1678
wanton1681
veering1684
upon the weathercock1702
contingent1703
unsettled?1726
fermentable1731
afloat1757
brickle1768
wavy1795
vagarious1798
unsettled1803
fitful1810
metamorphosical1811
undulating1815
tittupya1817
titubant1817
mutative1818
papier mâché1818
teetotum1819
vacillating1822
capricious1823
sensitive1828
quicksilvery1829
unengrafted1829
fluxionala1834
proteiform1833
liquid1835
tottlish1835
kaleidoscopic1846
versative1846
kaleidoscopical1858
tottery1861
choppy1865
variative1874
variational1879
wimbly-wambly1881
fluctuable1882
shifty1882
giveable1884
shifty1884
tippy1886
mutatory1890
upsettable1890
rocky1897
undulatory1897
streaky1898
tottly1905
tipply1906
up and down1907
inertialess1927
sometimey1946
rise-and-fall1950
switchable1961
the mind > will > decision > irresolution or vacillation > inconstancy > [adjective]
unfastc888
unstathelfasteOE
unsteadfasta1200
fleeting?c1225
changeablea1275
ficklea1275
unstablec1290
waveringc1315
flickerc1325
loose in the haftc1325
motleyc1380
unsadc1384
variablea1387
variantc1386
ticklec1400
inconstant1402
flitting1413
brittle1420
plianta1425
mutablec1425
shittle1440
shittle-witted1448
moonishc1450
unconstant1483
unfirm1483
varying?a1500
pliablea1513
fluctuant1575
changeling1577
shittle-headed1580
cheverel1583
off and on1583
chameleon-like1589
changeful1590
limber1602
unsteady1604
ticklish1606
skittish1609
startling1619
labile1623
uncertaina1625
cheverelized1625
remuant1625
fluctuate1631
fluctuary1632
various1636
contrarious1643
epileptical1646
fluxilea1654
shittle-braineda1655
multivolent1656
totter-headed1662
on and off1668
self-inconsistent1678
weathercocka1680
whifflinga1680
versatile1682
veering1684
fast and loose1697
inconsistent1709
insteadfast1728
unfixing1810
unsteadied1814
chameleonic1821
labefact1874
ballastless1884
weathercocky1886
whiffle-minded1902
the world > time > change > changeableness > [adjective] > of persons
ficklea1275
mutablec1425
fleeting1553
rolling1561
unbottomed?1674
motley1755
mobile1778
?c1225 (?a1200) Ancrene Riwle (Cleo. C.vi) (1972) 61 Wið þe fleotinde word fleoteð þe heorte.
c1374 G. Chaucer tr. Boethius De Consol. Philos. i. iii. (Cambr.) 6 Fleetynge Errour.
1413 Pilgr. Sowle (1483) i. iii. 4 The fletyng ayer geuyth place to the flyght of byrdes.
1553 T. Wilson Arte Rhetorique (1580) 3 Preachers, must now and then plaie the fooles in the pulpit, to serve the tickle eares of their fletyng audience.
1592 Greenes Groats-worth of Witte sig. C4 If I finde thee firme, Lamilia wilbe faithfull: if fleeting, shee must..be infortunate.
a1616 W. Shakespeare Antony & Cleopatra (1623) v. ii. 236 The fleeting Moone No Planet is of mine. View more context for this quotation
1649 J. Milton Εικονοκλαστης ii. 17 Of such a variable and fleeting conscience what hold can be tak'n?
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine iii. 424 Their wonder, that so firm a fabrick should stand on so fleeting a foundation.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > liquid > liquid flow > action or process of flowing > [adjective] > apt to flow
fleetingc1200
fluxible1556
fluid1603
fluxile1605
fluxive?1606
fluent1611
runny1770
fluidic1883
the world > food and drink > drink > [noun] > drink offerings
fleeting sacrifices1398
society > faith > worship > sacrifice or a sacrifice > kinds of sacrifice > [noun] > of libations
libation1382
fleeting sacrifices1398
drink-offering1535
libament1582
libature1632
minne-drinking1880
c1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 177 Wat is folc bute fletende water.
1398 J. Trevisa tr. Bartholomew de Glanville De Proprietatibus Rerum (Tollem. MS) vi. xxii Drynke is a fletynge substaunce nedful to þe fedynge of a beste.
a1425 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Royal) (1850) Exod. xxv. 29 Cuppis..in whiche fletynge sacrifices schulen be offrid.
a1475 Liber Cocorum (Sloane) (1862) 54 Take ryse and fletande fignade.
1567 G. Turberville Epit., Epigr., &c. (1870) 175 So stands the foole by fleeting floud.
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 140 The slipp'ry God..In fleeting Streams attempts to slide away. View more context for this quotation
4. Passing swiftly by. Chiefly of life or time.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective] > passing rapidly
speedy1598
fleeting1609
1609 W. Shakespeare Sonnets xcvii. sig. G Thee, the pleasure of the fleeting yeare. View more context for this quotation
a1704 T. Brown 1st Satyr Persius Imitated in Wks. (1707) I. i. 78 Thy fleeting Years of Youth will soon be gone.
1811 W. R. Spencer Poems 193 'Tis pain to part For e'en one fleeting night.
1863 A. P. Stanley Lect. Jewish Church I. viii. 196 The fleeting generations of man.
5. Passing or gliding swiftly away.
ΘΚΠ
the world > life > death > [adjective] > of soul: leaving body
fleeting1697
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective] > passing swiftly away
evoluble1667
fleeting1697
1697 J. Dryden tr. Virgil Georgics iv, in tr. Virgil Wks. 144 She said, and from his Eyes the fleeting Fair Retir'd like subtile Smoke dissolv'd in Air. View more context for this quotation
a1704 T. Brown Beauties to Armida in Wks. (1707) I. i. 64 Scarcely my Breast, my fleeting Soul retains.
1797 A. Radcliffe Italian II. vi. 190 He followed their fleeting figures.
1848 A. Jameson Sacred & Legendary Art To catch the fleeting soul of the triumphant martyr.
6. Existing for a brief period; not permanent or enduring; transitory, passing, fading.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [adjective]
slidinga900
scrithingOE
henwardOE
swifta1225
short livya1325
passing1340
flittingc1374
shadowy1374
temporalc1384
speedfula1400
transitory?c1400
brittlea1425
unabidingc1430
frail?c1450
indurablec1450
scrithel?c1475
caduke1483
transitorious1492
passanta1500
perishinga1500
caducea1513
fugitive?1518
caducal?1548
quick1548
delible1549
flittering1549
undurable?1555
shadowish1561
fleeting1563
vading1566
flightful1571
wanzing1571
transitive1575
slipping1581
diary1583
unlasting1585
never-lasting1588
flit1590
post-like1594
running1598
short-lived1598
short-winded1598
transient1599
unpermanent1607
flashy1609
of a day1612
passable1613
dureless1614
urgenta1616
waxena1616
decayable1617
horary1620
evanid1626
fugitable1628
short-dated1632
fugacious1635
ephemerala1639
impermanent1653
fungous1655
volatile1655
ephemerousa1660
unimmortal1667
timesome1674
while-being1674
of passage1680
journal1685
ephemeron1714
admovent1727
evanescent1728
meteorous1750
deciduous1763
preterient1786
ephemeridal1795
meteorica1802
meteor1803
ephemerean1804
ephemerid1804
evanescing1805
fleeted1810
fleet1812
unenduring1814
unremaining1817
unimmortalized1839
impersistent1849
flighty1850
uneternal1862
caducous1863
diurnal1866
horarious1866
brisk1879
evasive1881
picaresque1959
1563 B. Googe Eglogs Epytaphes & Sonettes sig. E.iiii Beholde this fletyng world how al things fade.
1667 J. Milton Paradise Lost x. 741 O fleeting joyes Of Paradise. View more context for this quotation
1771 T. Gray Let. 24 May in Poems (1775) 395 I have indeed a short one [journal]..that serves to recal and fix the fleeting images of these things.
1875 B. Jowett in tr. Plato Dialogues (ed. 2) IV. 30 Pleasure the most fleeting of all things.
Derivatives
ˈfleetingly adv.
ΘΚΠ
the world > movement > rate of motion > swiftness > [adverb]
yeverlyeOE
cofeOE
snellya1000
whatlichea1000
swiftlyc1000
yernea1023
skeetc1175
swithc1175
whatec1175
lightly?c1225
tidelyc1225
fastlyc1275
swithc1275
fastc1300
quickc1300
titec1300
quicklya1325
rada1325
snellc1330
titelyc1330
swithly?1370
hastlya1375
ketlya1375
ketec1380
speedlyc1380
speedfully1398
keenlya1400
skeetlya1400
speedilya1400
swiftc1400
yederlyc1400
apacea1423
rasha1475
runninglyc1475
speedful?c1480
rackly?a1500
rashly1533
stiffly1535
roundly1548
post1549
fleet1587
fleetly1598
speedy1601
raptly1646
fastisha1650
wingedly1651
rapidly1653
rapid1677
velociously1680
express1765
quicklike1782
spankingly1803
spankily1842
fleetingly1883
quick-foot1891
on the quick-foot1894
zippily1924
1883 M. K. Macmillan Let. 23 Oct. I have read, fleetingly, a very considerable section of his prose writings.
ˈfleetingness n.
ΘΚΠ
the world > time > duration > shortness or brevity in time > swift movement of time > [noun] > transience
frailnessa1300
timelinessa1500
transitoriness1550
fleeting1616
temporality1635
wanzingness1642
transiency1647
impermanency1648
undurableness1648
transientness1653
fugacity1656
evanidness1659
fugaciousness1664
timeishness1674
timesomeness1674
volatilenessa1676
fleetingness1709
deciduousness1727
fleetness1727
momentaneousness1727
preterience1730
transience1739
evanescence1751
unpermanency1751
transitiveness1775
caducity1793
impermanence1796
ephemerality1822
passingness1839
transitionalness1880
anitya1882
diariness1891
anicca1904
ephemeralness1911
1709 G. Berkeley Ess. New Theory of Vision §156. 182 The perpetual Mutability, and Fleetingness of those immediate Objects of Sight.
1842 H. E. Manning Serm. xxi. 309 Poets were wont to bewail the fleetingness of life.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1896; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.11489n.2c1440
n.31884
n.41583
adj.OE