imminent

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/ or /ˈɪmənənt/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

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.

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.
• Said of danger, threat and death.

Synonyms

• inevitable
• immediate
• impending

Derived terms

• imminence
• imminently

Related terms

• eminent
• prominent

Translations

about to happen, occur, or take place very soon

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} على وشك الوقوع‎‎ , وشيك‎‎
• Bulgarian: предстоящ (bg) (predstojašt), неминуем (bg) (neminuem)
• Catalan: imminent (ca)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: bezprostřední (cs)
• Dutch: imminent, dreigend (nl)
• Finnish: tuleva (fi)
• French: imminent (fr)
• Galician: inminente
• German: (1) bevorstehend (de)
• Greek: επικείμενος (el) m (epikeímenos)

• Ido: minac-anta
• Italian: imminente (it)
• Maori: raraka (refers to misfortune)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: nært forestående, umiddelbart forestående, overhengende

• Polish: bliski (pl) m, nadciągający m
• Portuguese: iminente (pt)
• Romanian: iminent (ro) m
• Russian: немину́емый (ru) (neminújemyj), неизбе́жный (ru) (neizbéžnyj), надвигающийся (ru) m (nadvigajuščijsja)
• Serbo-Croatian: iminentno, neminovno (sh), neizbježno (sh), neposredno (sh), prestojeće
• Spanish: inminente (es)
• Swedish: nära förestående, överhängande (sv)

Further reading

• imminent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• imminent in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• imminent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• miniment

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Catalan

Etymology

From Latin imminēns (“projecting, overhanging; threatening, menacing”).

Adjective

imminent (masculine and feminine plural imminents)

1. imminent

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.mi.nɑ̃/

Adjective

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

1. imminent

Derived terms

• expérience de mort imminente
• imminemment

Further reading

• “imminent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

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Latin

Verb

imminent

1. third-person plural present active indicative of immineō