Ephemerality denotes the condition of existing only briefly. The term derives from the Greek ephēmeros, “lasting a day,” which entered English in early scientific usage before broadening to mean anything fleeting or short-lived Etymonline;
Merriam‑Webster.
Philosophical and religious perspectives
- –In Buddhism, impermanence (anicca) is a foundational doctrine: all conditioned phenomena arise and pass away. Anicca is one of the “three marks” of existence alongside anatta and dukkha
Encyclopaedia Britannica.
- –Japanese aesthetics articulates ephemerality in Mono no aware, the pathos evoked by transient things—famously cherry blossoms whose beauty is intensified by their brief bloom—an idea treated extensively in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy’s survey of Japanese aesthetics
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
Aesthetics and the arts
- –Seventeenth‑century Dutch Vanitas still lifes symbolized life’s brevity and the vanity of worldly pursuits through imagery such as skulls, timepieces, and wilting flowers
- –Ritual art forms make transience explicit. Tibetan Buddhist sand mandalas are painstakingly created and then ceremonially dismantled to signify impermanence; Smithsonian accounts describe the sweeping up and dispersal of sand following completion
Smithsonian Magazine;
Smithsonian Institution.
- –Live practices such as Performance art have embraced ephemerality as a defining attribute, often privileging the event over durable objects and complicating museum documentation and acquisition. The Irish Museum of Modern Art emphasizes the “immateriality” of performance and its resistance to objecthood in 1960s–1970s work and in later artists like Tino Sehgal
IMMA.
Natural sciences
- –Botany employs “ephemeral” for short‑lived plants that complete rapid growth or entire life cycles in brief favorable windows (e.g., spring wildflowers or desert annuals)
- –Hydrology distinguishes Ephemeral stream flow regimes that run only in direct response to precipitation or snowmelt, with channels above the water table year‑round
USGS.
- –Seasonal wetlands such as the Vernal pool hold water only part of the year, providing critical, fish‑free breeding habitat for amphibians and invertebrates; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency notes their episodic filling and ecological value
U.S. EPA.
Media, information, and technology
- –Printed “ephemera” (tickets, broadsides, trade cards, pamphlets) were designed for short‑term use yet today serve as rich historical sources; collecting organizations define ephemera as “minor transient documents of everyday life”
Ephemera Society of America;
History of Science Museum, Oxford.
- –Digital platforms normalize ephemeral communication. Snapchat, for example, is designed to auto‑delete one‑to‑one “Snaps” after viewing and to expire most Stories after 24 hours, with exceptions when users or settings preserve content
Snapchat Support.
- –In computer networking, “ephemeral ports” are short‑lived transport‑layer ports automatically assigned for the duration of a session. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority defines dynamic/private ports as 49152–65535, a range widely adopted by operating systems
IANA; Microsoft documents the switch to this range starting in Windows Vista/Server 2008
Microsoft Learn.
Archives and recordkeeping
- –Ephemeral communication poses compliance and preservation challenges for public institutions. The U.S. National Archives instructs federal agencies that messages created on third‑party apps are federal records when they document agency business and must be retained per approved schedules; auto‑delete features must not destroy records without appraisal
NARA AC 23.2025;
Related and contrasting terms
- –Impermanence names the broader metaphysical claim (especially in Buddhist contexts) that all compounded phenomena change (anicca)
- –“Ephemeralization,” a distinct term coined by R. Buckminster Fuller, refers not to short duration but to “doing more with less,” a trend he framed within his design‑science philosophy
Buckminster Fuller Institute.