imminent

See also: imminént

English

Etymology

From the present participle of Latin imminēre (“to overhang”), from mineō ("to project, overhang"), related to minae (English menace) and mons (English mount). Compare with eminent.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɪmɪnənt/, /ˈɪmənənt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Homophone: eminent (pin-pen merger)

Adjective

imminent (comparative more imminent, superlative most imminent)

1. About to happen, occur, or take place very soon, especially of something which won't last long.
   • 1927, Whitney v. California:

     To courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government, no danger flowing from speech can be deemed clear and present unless the incidence of the evil apprehended is so imminent that it may befall before there is opportunity for full discussion.

   • 2022 January 12, Benedict le Vay, “The heroes of Soham...”, in RAIL, number 948, page 42:

     The Second World War was reaching fever pitch, with the entire Allied effort in top gear for the imminent invasion of Europe, while later that month buzz bombs would start falling on London.

Usage notes

• Imminent and eminent are very similar sounds, and are weak rhymes; in dialects with the pin-pen merger, these become homophones. A typo of either word may result in a correction to the wrong word by spellchecking software. Imminent is also sometimes confused with immanent (which see).
• Said of danger, threat and death.

Synonyms

• inevitable, immediate, impending; see also Thesaurus:impending

Derived terms

• imminence
• imminent abortion
• imminently

Related terms

• eminent
• prominent

Translations

about to happen, occur, or take place very soon

• Arabic: وَشِيك m (wašīk)
• Belarusian: надыхо́дзячы (nadyxódzjačy), неміну́чы (be) (njeminúčy) (inevitable), неадхі́льны (njeadxílʹny) (inevitable), няўхі́льны (njaŭxílʹny) (inevitable)
• Bulgarian: предстоя́щ (bg) (predstojášt), немину́ем (bg) (neminúem)
• Catalan: imminent (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 即將來臨／即将来临 (zh) (jíjiāng láilín)

• Czech: bezprostřední (cs)
• Dutch: imminent (nl), dreigend (nl)
• Finnish: tuleva (fi)
• French: imminent (fr)
• Galician: inminente
• German: bevorstehend (de)
• Greek: επικείμενος (el) m (epikeímenos)
• Ido: minac-anta
• Italian: imminente (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: 절박한 (jeolbakhan), 절박하다 (jeolbakhada)
• Latvian: draudošs m, nenovēršams m, gaidāms m
• Maori: raraka (refers to misfortune)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nært forestående, umiddelbart forestående, overhengende

• Plautdietsch: dreiwent
• Polish: bliski (pl), nadciągający
• Portuguese: iminente (pt)
• Romanian: iminent (ro) m
• Russian: предстоя́щий (ru) (predstojáščij), надвига́ющийся (ru) (nadvigájuščijsja), немину́емый (ru) (neminújemyj) (inevitable), неизбе́жный (ru) (neizbéžnyj) (inevitable)
• Sanskrit: भविष्य (sa) (bhaviṣya)
• Serbo-Croatian: iminentno, neminovno (sh), neizbježno (sh), neposredno (sh), prestojeće
• Spanish: inminente (es)
• Swedish: nära förestående, överhängande (sv)
• Ukrainian: немину́чий (nemynúčyj) (inevitable)

Further reading

• “imminent”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “imminent”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “imminent”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• miniment

Catalan

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin imminentem (“projecting, overhanging; threatening, menacing”).

Adjective

imminent m or f (masculine and feminine plural imminents)

1. imminent

Derived terms

• imminentment

Related terms

• imminència

Further reading

• “imminent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
• “imminent”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2024
• “imminent” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
• “imminent” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

French

Etymology

From Latin imminentem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.mi.nɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

imminent (feminine imminente, masculine plural imminents, feminine plural imminentes)

1. imminent

Derived terms

• expérience de mort imminente
• imminemment

Related terms

• imminence

Further reading

• “imminent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Latin

Verb

imminent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of immineō