volatile

English

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Etymology

From Middle FrenchCategory:English terms derived from Middle French#VOLATILE volatileCategory:English undefined derivations#VOLATILE, from LatinCategory:English terms derived from Latin#VOLATILE volātilis (“flying; swift; temporary; volatile”)Category:English undefined derivations#VOLATILE, from volō (“to fly”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatile (comparative more volatile, superlative most volatile)Category:English lemmas#VOLATILECategory:English adjectives#VOLATILECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  2. (physicsCategory:en:Physics#VOLATILE) Evaporating or vaporizing readily under normal conditions.
  3. (informalCategory:English informal terms#VOLATILE) Of a substance, explosive.
  4. (economicsCategory:en:Economics#VOLATILE, financeCategory:en:Finance#VOLATILE) Of a price, variable or erratic.
    • 2024 November 19, Jeanne Sahadi, “Bitcoin has smashed records. Should you invest?”, in CNN Business‎, archived from the original on 4 June 2025:
      Its pricing is highly volatile — and therefore highly risky. For all its nosebleed ascents, bitcoin also has had some gut-punching plunges. Between November 2021 and November 2022, for example, the price of bitcoin dropped 75%, from $64,455 to $16,196, according to data on coinmarketcap.com.
      Category:English terms with quotations#VOLATILE
  5. Of a person, quick to become angry or violent.
    Synonyms: furious, rabid, raging; see also Thesaurus:ferocious
  6. Fickle.
    Synonyms: changeable, erratic, unpredictable
  7. Temporary or ephemeral.
    Synonyms: fleeting, passing, transitory; see also Thesaurus:ephemeral
  8. Of a situation potentially violent.
  9. (programmingCategory:en:Programming#VOLATILE) Of a variable etc., having its associated memory immediately updated with any changes in value.
    • 2010, Jon Jagger, Nigel Perry, Peter Sestoft, Annotated C# Standard, page 467:
      This method stores a value into a non-volatile field called result, then stores true in the volatile field finished. The main thread waits for the field finished to be set to true, then reads the field result.
      Category:English terms with quotations#VOLATILE
  10. (computingCategory:en:Computing#VOLATILE) Of memory, whose content is lost when the computer is powered down.
  11. (obsoleteCategory:English terms with obsolete senses#VOLATILE) Passing through the air on wings, or by the buoyant force of the atmosphere; flying; having the power to fly.
    (Can we add an example for this sense?)Category:Requests for example sentences in English#VOLATILE

Derived terms

Translations

(computing, of memory) whose content is lost when the computer is powered down
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Noun

volatile (plural volatiles)Category:English lemmas#VOLATILECategory:English nouns#VOLATILECategory:English countable nouns#VOLATILECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. A chemical or compound that changes into a gas easily.
  2. (programmingCategory:en:Programming#VOLATILE) A variable that is volatile, i.e. has its associated memory immediately updated with any change in value.

French

Etymology

Compare volaille.

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatileCategory:French non-lemma forms#VOLATILECategory:French adjective forms#VOLATILECategory:French entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. feminine singular of volatil

Noun

volatile m (plural volatiles)Category:French lemmas#VOLATILECategory:French nouns#VOLATILECategory:French countable nouns#VOLATILECategory:French entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:French masculine nouns#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. fowl, bird

Further reading

German

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatileCategory:German non-lemma forms#VOLATILECategory:German adjective forms#VOLATILECategory:German entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. inflection of volatil:
    1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
    2. strong nominative/accusative plural
    3. weak nominative all-gender singular
    4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Etymology

From LatinCategory:Italian terms derived from Latin#VOLATILE volātilis.

Pronunciation

Adjective

volatile m or f by sense (plural volatili)Category:Italian lemmas#VOLATILECategory:Italian adjectives#VOLATILECategory:Italian epicene adjectives#VOLATILECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. (chemistryCategory:it:Chemistry#VOLATILE, physicsCategory:it:Physics#VOLATILE) volatile
  2. flying
    Synonym: volante

Noun

volatile m (plural volatili)Category:Italian lemmas#VOLATILECategory:Italian nouns#VOLATILECategory:Italian countable nouns#VOLATILECategory:Italian entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Italian masculine nouns#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. bird, fowl
    Synonym: uccello
  2. (vulgarCategory:Italian vulgarities#VOLATILE) penis

Further reading

  • volatile in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Category:it:Birds#VOLATILE

Latin

Pronunciation

Adjective

volātileCategory:Latin non-lemma forms#VOLATILECategory:Latin adjective forms#VOLATILECategory:Latin entries with incorrect language header#VOLATILECategory:Pages with entries#VOLATILECategory:Pages with 5 entries#VOLATILE

  1. nominative/accusative/vocative neuter singular of volātilis

References

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