transient

Encyclopedia Article

Article

In general, transient can be used to indicate anything that is passing or temporary. When used to describe people, it usually means someone who is hired for a certain job on a temporary basis (such as seasonal farm workers), or a short-term boarder who stays in a place of residency for only a limited time. The term is also often used in a derogatory way to refer to poor, migrant laborers or homeless people.

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"Toward Los Angeles, California, March 1937," photograph by Dorothea Lange, (LC-DIG-fsa-8b31799). FSA/OWI Collection, Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

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