05.06.2019 - By Merriam-Webster
Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 6, 2019 is: ephemeral \ih-FEM-uh-rul\ adjective
1 : lasting a very short time
2 : lasting one day only
Examples:
The young YouTube star's fame was ephemeral but surprisingly lucrative while it lasted.
"After winter, the garden comes to life with the planting of spring-blooming ephemeral bulbs such as naturalizing daffodils, crocus, tulips, snowdrops and hyacinths that appear before the tree canopy 'leafs out' and perennials burst forth…." — The Parry Sound (Ontario) North Star, 6 Mar. 2019
Did you know?
The [mayfly](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mayfly) (order [Ephemeroptera](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Ephemeroptera)) typically hatches, matures, mates, and dies within the span of a few short hours (though the longest-lived may survive a record two days); poets sometimes use this insect to symbolize life's ephemeral nature. When ephemeral (from the Greek word ephēmeros, meaning "lasting a day") first appeared in print in English in the late 16th century, it was a scientific term applied to short-term fevers, and later, to organisms (such as insects and flowers) with very short life spans. Soon after that, it acquired an extended sense referring to anything fleeting and short-lived, as in "ephemeral pleasures."