Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Immediate |
ImmediateAdjective1. Of the present time and place; "the immediate revisions". 2. Very close or connected in space or time; "contiguous events"; "immediate contact"; "the immediate vicinity"; "the immediate past". 3. Having no intervening medium; "an immediate influence". 4. Immediately before or after as in a chain of cause and effect; "the immediate result"; "the immediate cause of the trouble". 5. Performed with little or no delay; "an immediate reply to my letter"; "prompt obedience"; "was quick to respond"; "a straightaway denial". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "immediate" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1321. (references) |
(From Wikipedia, the free Encyclopedia)
Informally, a logical statement is vacuously true if it is true but doesn't say anything; an example are statements of the form "everything with property A also has property B", but there is nothing with property A. For instance, the statementis vacuously true since there are no elephants inside a loaf of bread; here property A is "being an elephant inside a loaf of bread", and property B is "being pink". Another example is
- All elephants inside a loaf of bread are pink.
There are no such prime numbers, so in a sense the truth of this statement "doesn't matter".
- If a prime number is even and bigger than two, then it must be divisible by three.
The statement "0 mathematicians can change a lightbulb" is not vacuously true (or, indeed, true at all); the lightbulb joke "in a group of 0 mathematicians, any one of them can change a lightbulb" however is vacuously true.
Vacuous truth should be compared to tautology, with which it is sometimes conflated.
The remainder of this article uses mathematical symbols.
Scope of the concept
The term "vacuously true" is generally applied to a statement S if S has a form similar to:
The first instance is the most basic one; the other three can be reduced to the first with suitable transformations.
- P ⇒ Q, where P is false.
- ∀ x, P(x) ⇒ Q(x), where it is the case that ∀ x, ¬ P(x).
- ∀ x ∈ A, Q(x), where the set A is empty.
- ∀ ξ, Q(ξ), where the symbol ξ is restricted to a type that has no representatives.
Vacuous truth is usually applied in classical logic, which in particular is two-valued, and most of the arguments in the next section will be based on this assumption. However, vacuous truth also appears in, for example, intuitionistic logic in the same situations given above. Indeed, the first 2 forms above will yield vacuous truth in any logic that uses material implication, but there are other logics which do not.
Why do we call vacuously true statements true?
We will here consider only the case when S has the form P ⇒ Q, and P is false. Should we say that S is true? That it's false? That it's something else? Should we not say anything?
For instance, consider this statement for S:
Now suppose that Peter doesn't win the lottery (i.e., P is false). No matter whether he buys a house or not, the original statement stands; it is certainly not false: the speaker cannot be accused of having lied. So a truth value of false for this statement S (or any other of the same form) is counterintuitive and is to be rejected.
- If Peter wins the lottery tomorrow, then he will buy a new house.
Another argument against the falsehood of statements like S proceeds as follows. Suppose we were to make the general declaration that statements like S are always false. Then, using a truth table, we can show that P ⇒ Q is precisely the same claim as P and Q, which is certainly unintuitive; we wouldn't even need the symbol ⇒ or the concept "implies" in this case.
But should we necessarily call statements like S true?
If we adopt the position that every statement S has to be either true or false, an assumption made by classical logic, then we are forced to call it true. Many people however feel uneasy with this and would rather call the statement "irrelevant" or "pointless", thus allowing a third truth value besides "true" and "false". Such logics have been studied, e.g. relevant logic, but there are a number of advantages to the classical approach, such as representing logical statements with a boolean algebra.
Another argument for picking "true" as the truth value for these implications is this: Most people will agree that the statement
is true in the integers, which should mean that it's true for any integer x. In particularly, it should be true for x = 3; but the statement for x = 3 is a statement S of the above type, P ⇒ Q with P (namely that 3 is even) being false. Consequently, this statement should be called true.
- If x is even, then x + 2 is even.
So there are a number of justifications for saying that vacuously true statements are indeed true. Nonetheless, there is still something odd about the choice. There seems to be no direct reason to pick true; it's just that things blow up in our face if we don't. Thus we say S is vacuously true; it is true, but in a way that doesn't seem entirely free from arbitrariness. Furthermore, the fact that S is true doesn't really provide us with any information, nor can we make useful deductions from it; it is only a choice we made about how our logical system works, and can't represent any fact of the real world.
Vacuous truths in mathematics
Vacuous truths occur commonly in mathematics. For instance, when making a general statement about arbitrary sets, we want the statement to hold for all sets including the empty set. But for the empty set the statement may very well reduce to a vacuous truth. So by taking this vacuous truth to be true, our general statement stands and we are not forced to make an exception for the empty set. Formally related is the approach to empty products: a product of no factors is defined to be 1 so as to make many general statements work without exceptions.
There are however vacuous truths that even most mathematicians will outright dismiss as "nonsense" and would never publish in a mathematical journal (even if grudgingly admitting that they are true). An example would be the true statement
Further reading:
- Every infinite subset of the set {1,2,3} has seven elements.
- When is truth vacuous? Is infinity a bunch of nothing?: a transcript of a discussion in which some professional and amateur mathematicians try to find a definition for vacuous truth and debate its properties
Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia under a copyleft GNU Free Documentation License (GFDL) from the article "Vacuous truth."
| The following table is compiled from various sources, across various languages. When English abbreviations or acronyms come from a non-English source, this is noted. | |||
| Entry | Source | Expression | Field |
| IMD | English | Immediate | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |||
Synonyms: ImmediateSynonyms: contiguous (adj), prompt (adj), quick (adj), straightaway (adj). (additional references) |
| Synonym by domain: imd (computing). |
| Antonym: mediate (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Continuity | Adjective: continuous, continued; consecutive; progressive, gradual; serial, successive; immediate, unbroken, entire; linear; in a line, in a row; Noun: uninterrupted, unintermitting; unremitting, unrelenting (perseverence) a; perennial, evergreen; constant. |
Earliness | Sudden; (instantaneous); unexpected; near, near at hand; immediate. |
Instantaneity | Adjective: instantaneous, momentary, sudden, immediate, instant, abrupt, discontinuous, precipitous, precipitant, precipitate; subitaneous, hasty;quick as thought, quick as lightning, quick as a flash; rapid as electricity. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Immediate |
| English words defined with "immediate": immediate apprehension. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "immediate": Immediate Delivery, Immediate Relatives, immediate version. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | Sir, it's immediate, it's decisive, it's low-risk, and it's a proportional response (The American President; writing credit: Aaron Sorkin) The white zone is for immediate loading and unloading of passengers only (Airplane!; writing credit: Jim Abrahams; David Zucker) I sentence you to sudden, instant, and even immediate death (Robin Hood; writing credit: Ken Anderson; Larry Clemmons) Do you want an acute case on your hands? This woman has immediate post-parandial, upper-abdominal distention (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home; writing credit: Leonard Nimoy; Harve Bennett) Well, if it isn't Orson Welles, I can't be of any immediate help (Remington Steele; writing credit: Neil Hardwick; Jussi Tuominen) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Cable: The Immediate Future (1972) Immediate Possession (1931) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title | ||
Books |
| ||
Periodicals |
| ||
Theater & Movies | |||
Music |
| ||
High Tech |
| ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | "Chart of the immediate surroundings of the South Pole." In: "The South Pole", by Roald Amundsen, 1872-1928. P. 121, Volume II, Library Call Number M82.1/99 A529s. Credit: Treasures of the Library. |  | Scientist inspecting early TIROS satellite components. In the immediate foreground are two TV cameras with a tape recorder in between. Credit: NOAA in Space. |
 | Survivors of USS Indianapolis (CA-35) are brought ashore from USS Tranquillity (AH-14) at Guam, 8 August 1945. They are being placed in Ambulances for immediate transfer to local hospitals. Photographed by PhoM1c J.G. Mull. Credit: NAVY. |  | With his staff on the after deck of USS Philadelphia (CL-41), circa November 1940, at the time he took command of Cruiser Division Eight. Those present are (from left to right): Lieutenant Commander George E. Nold, Aide and Flag Secretary; Lieutenant Commander Cameron Briggs, Aviation Officer and Commanding Officer of Cruiser Scouting Squadron Eight (VCS-8); Rear Admiral Hewitt; Lieutenant Philip G. Stokes, Radio Officer; and Lieutenant Benjamin P. Field, Jr., Aide and Flag Lieutenant. The ship's after 6"/47 guns are in the immediate background. Credit: NAVY. |
 | View on board ships moored off the yard's western waterfront in 1865-66. Ships in the immediate foreground are monitors. The odd "cigar-shaped" steamer tied up to them appears to be the former Confederate "enlarged David" built at Charleston, South Carolina, late in the Civil War. The Navy Yard's western shiphouse is visible in the right background, with USS Resaca fitting out at pierside. Photo mounted on a stereograph card. Credit: NAVY. |  | Game of penny-ante in general store near New Iberia. This store is the social center of the immediate community. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Albion, New York (vicinity). So urgent was the need for immediate farm labor that even before the Friends had moved in, they were working in the fields of David Nesbitt. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | Immediate emancipation in the West Indies, Aug. 1st, 1838 / painted by Alexr. Rippingille ; engraved by S.H. Gimber. Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Yanks in Germany want more books. Take good live fiction to the public library for immediate shipment / F. Credit: Library of Congress. |  | In the name of humanity, vote no on the question of immediate withdrawal from Viet Nam. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
 |
| "Oriente station at night" by Luis Alves Commentary: "The Oriente station by Santiago Calatrava was commissioned by the city of Lisbon in 1993, after an invited competition. Its immediate goal was to serve the great number of visitors expected for the World Expo in 1998. --------------------------- Notic" |
Source: photographs selected by the editor, with permission from the photographers. |
| Play | Caption | Play | Caption |
 | Fast; quick; ASAP; abrupt; accelerated; active; agile; alert; animated; breakneck; brief; brisk; cursory; curt; double time; energetic; expeditious; expeditive; express; fleet; flying; get going; harefooted; hasty; headlong; hurried; immediate; impatient. | | Deliver; informative; important; urgent; immediate; hasty; notice; notification . |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Alexander Hamilton | Here, sir, the people govern; here they act by their immediate representatives. |
Augusto Roa Bastos | Anyone who attempts to relate his life loses himself in the immediate. One can only speak of another. |
John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich | If any man will draw up his case, and put his name at the foot of the first page, I will give him an immediate reply. Where he compels me to turn over the sheet, he must wait my leisure. |
Sir Richard Steele | To behold her is an immediate check to loose behavior; to love her is a liberal education. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Author | Date | Quotation |
US Declaration of Independence | 1776 | He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them. (reference) |
Communist Manifesto | 1848 | The real fruit of their battles lies, not in the immediate result, but in the ever-expanding union of the workers. (reference) |
Treaty of Versailles | 1919 | Decisions of the Commission, in accordance with the powers conferred upon it, shall forthwith become binding and may be put into immediate execution without further Proceedings. (reference) |
Winston S. Churchill | 1946 | Nobody knows what Soviet Russia and its Communist international organization intends to do in the immediate future, or what are the limits, if any, to their expansive and proselytizing tendencies. ("Iron Curtain" Speech) |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Title | Author | Quote |
Emma | Austen, Jane | There was no immediate appearance |
A Christmas Carol | Dickens, Charles | This was not addressed to Scrooge, or to any one whom he could see, but it produced an immediate effect |
Les Miserables | Hugo, Victor | The others can see only their immediate family, and that very rarely |
Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man | Joyce, James | In other words the synthesis of immediate perception is followed by the analysis of apprehension |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Shingles poses two immediate challenges to medical research. (references) | |
This modality appears to be effective for immediate hemostasis. (references) | ||
The patient needs immediate treatment to improve the flow of fluid. (references) | ||
Business | Environmental technology also has immediate possibilities. (references) | |
Many large scale producers want their suppliers to be located in their immediate area. (references) | ||
Fiber optic cables and cable modems are the immediate requirements of local cable operators. (references) | ||
Children | Korea | In 1997 a senior UNICEF official said that approximately 80,000 children in North Korea were in immediate danger of dying from hunger and disease; 800,000 more were suffering from malnutrition to a serious but lesser degree. (references) |
Ireland | The Child Care Act places a statutory duty on government health boards to identify and help children who are not receiving adequate care, and it gives the police increased powers to remove children from the family when there is an immediate and serious risk to their health or welfare. (references) | |
Civil Liberties | Cuba | Police only allowed immediate family members to enter the cemetery for the burial ceremony. (references) |
Economic History | Zambia | Invitation of offers for immediate sale is outstanding. (references) |
Thailand | The end-user can expect an immediate response to inquiries. (references) | |
Kenya | Kenya has a good relationship with all its immediate neighbors. (references) | |
Human Rights | Denmark | The Constitution allows for the immediate appeal of a judge's detention order. (references) |
Luxembourg | Suspects are given immediate access to an attorney, at government expense for indigents. (references) | |
Zimbabwe | The pardon permitted the immediate release of prisoners convicted of the latter two offenses. (references) | |
Minorities | Congo | There was heavy representation from each leader's ethnic group among his immediate staff: Mbochi for Sassou-Nguesso, Lari for Kolelas, and the groups from the Niari, Bouenza, and Lekoumou regions for Lissouba; however, the correspondence between ethnic-regional and political cleavages is inexact, and supporters of the Government include persons from a broad range of ethnic and regional backgrounds. (references) |
Political Economy | GHANA | The new government took immediate steps to restore macroeconomic stability. (references) |
Senegal | Businesses do not perceive any immediate instability in the political situation. (references) | |
Political Rights | Oman | The Sultan promulgated by decree the country's first defacto written constitution, known as the Basic Charter, in November 1996. Although it has immediate force of law, most laws and regulations to implement its provisions have not yet been enacted. (references) |
Indonesia | The military and police have agreed to relinquish their appointed seats in the DPR and regional legislatures by 2004, but an MPR decree passed in August 2000 allows them to retain seats in the MPR until "not later than" 2009. In an apparent effort to decrease demands for an immediate end to their legislative positions, military and police legislators generally have sought to limit their involvement in matters deemed not to affect their core interests. (references) | |
Trade | Nigeria | FIF provides the export sector with immediate foreign exchange requirements needed for raw material imports, packaging materials and capital equipment (used for production of goods for export). (references) |
Travel | West Bank | Most doctors and hospitals expect immediate cash payment for services. (references) |
Botswana | Heath providers often expect immediate cash payment for health services. (references) | |
Maldives | Doctors and clinics often require immediate cash payment for health services. (references) | |
Women | Saudi Arabia | Men may study overseas; women may do so only if accompanied by a spouse or an immediate male relative. (references) |
Pakistan | A woman "married to the Koran" is forbidden to have any contact with males over 14 years of age, including her immediate family members. (references) | |
Ghana | In January 1999, the CHRAJ announced its decision in the country's first sexual harassment case, involving a flight attendant for a private airline and her immediate supervisor. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Taiwan | In the past, those who tested positive were subject to immediate deportation. (references) |
Hungary | An amendment to the alien law provides for immediate expulsion from the country of foreign traffickers. (references) | |
Sweden | Within limits protecting the public's immediate health and security, public employees also enjoy the right to strike. (references) | |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | SEAL, n. A mark impressed upon certain kinds of documents to attest their authenticity and authority. Sometimes it is stamped upon wax, and attached to the paper, sometimes into the paper itself. Sealing, in this sense, is a survival of an ancient custom of inscribing important papers with cabalistic words or signs to give them a magical efficacy independent of the authority that they represent. In the British museum are preserved many ancient papers, mostly of a sacerdotal character, validated by necromantic pentagrams and other devices, frequently initial letters of words to conjure with; and in many instances these are attached in the same way that seals are appended now. As nearly every reasonless and apparently meaningless custom, rite or observance of modern times had origin in some remote utility, it is pleasing to note an example of ancient nonsense evolving in the process of ages into something really useful. Our word "sincere" is derived from sine cero, without wax, but the learned are not in agreement as to whether this refers to the absence of the cabalistic signs, or to that of the wax with which letters were formerly closed from public scrutiny. Either view of the matter will serve one in immediate need of an hypothesis. The initials L.S., commonly appended to signatures of legal documents, mean locum sigillis, the place of the seal, although the seal is no longer used -- an admirable example of conservatism distinguishing Man from the beasts that perish. The words locum sigillis are humbly suggested as a suitable motto for the Pribyloff Islands whenever they shall take their place as a sovereign State of the American Union. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
Dennis Miller | Some religious zealots act like the code of morality they claim to be upholding can be temporarily shelved when it gets in the way of their more immediate goals. |
Geoffrey Hoon | Well, in the very short term, as soon as the conflict is at an end, our forces will be engaged, along with other coalition forces, in providing immediate security. |
Orrin Hatch | I campaigned hard, and the results were immediate. Within a month of my announcement, I moved to number nine. A few weeks later, I was number eight, then I in-stepped to number seven, and then within a month I was number six. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | That the Executive of the United States should be enabled to employ the means to which the Indians have been long accustomed for uniting their immediate interests with the preservation of peace. |
John Adams | 1797-1801 | While we think on this calamity and sympathize with the immediate sufferers, we have abundant reason to present to the Supreme Being our annual oblations of gratitude for a liberal participation in the ordinary blessings of His providence. |
Thomas Jefferson | 1801-1809 | An immediate prohibition of the exportation of arms and ammunition is also submitted to your determination. |
Andrew Jackson | 1829-1837 | Those credits on the books of some of the Western banks, usually called deposits, were already greatly beyond their immediate means of payment, and were rapidly increasing. |
Warren G. Harding | 1921-1923 | We contemplate the immediate task of putting our public household in order. |
Harry S. Truman | 1945-1953 | Today inflation is our greatest immediate domestic problem. |
Richard Nixon | 1969-1974 | Oh, the immediate reaction would be a sense of relief that our men were coming home. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | Of immediate concern is the prospect of millions of Africans threatened by famine because of drought and civil disturbances. |
Ronald Reagan | 1981-1989 | Now, it is also time for some plain talk about the most immediate obstacle to controlling federal deficits. |
George Bush | 1989-1993 | For it's not enough to get an immediate burst. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Immediate" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 99.98% of the time. "Immediate" is used about 6,102 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 99.98% | 6,101 | 1,598 |
| Unclassified Items | 0.02% | 1 | 339,140 |
| Total | 100.00% | 6,102 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "immediate": for immediate attention ♦ immediate air support ♦ immediate allergy ♦ Immediate amputation ♦ immediate apprehension ♦ immediate commander ♦ immediate constituent ♦ immediate constituent grammar ♦ immediate decontamination ♦ immediate denture ♦ immediate destination ♦ immediate memory ♦ immediate operational readiness ♦ immediate payment ♦ immediate processing ♦ immediate reality ♦ immediate response ♦ immediate successor ♦ immediate version ♦ immediate vital cargo. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "immediate": immediate-containers, Immediate-Early, immediate-early, Immediate-Early Proteins, immediate-interest, immediate-return, immediate-term, immediate-type. | |
Ending with "immediate": rush-immediate. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "immediate"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | i tanishëm (actual, current, nowaday, present), i menjëhershëm (impulsive, instant, instantaneous, momentary, prompt, quick, rapid), i drejtpërdrejtë (direct, first hand, flush, literal, live, outright, play-by-play, plump, point blank), direkt (first hand, thro, thru). (various references) | |
Arabic | فوري (instant, instantaneous, prompt, quick, spontaneous, spot, straight away), مباشر (collateral, conducting, direct, downright, eve, first hand, forthright, frontal, fulfilling, lineal, non-stop, plump, point blank, proximate, satisfying, through), حالي (actual, circumstantial, current, existent, existing, present, present day, running), عاجل (accelerate, hasten, instant, precipitate, prompt, rapid, speedy, summary). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | от първа ръка (at firsthand, firsthand), неотложен (clamorous, exigent, instant, necessitous, pressing, urgent), незабавен (instant, instantaneous, prompt, speedy, straightaway, summary), непосредствен (direct, funky, instant, pressing), непосреден, най-близък (next, proximate), пряк (direct, forthright, lineal, near, straight). (various references) | |
Chinese | 直接 (direct). (various references) | |
Czech | přímý (above board, direct, downright, firsthand, forthright, head on, nonstop, non-stop, outright, outspoken, plainspoken, Plumb, plump, point blank, right, Square, straight, straightforward, through, upright), okamžitý (instant, instantaneous, momentary, overnight, prompt, quick, unhesitating), nejbližší (next of kin, proximate), naléhavý (burning, dire, emergent, exhortative, exigent, imperative, importunate, insistent, instant, of great importance, pressing, stringent, urgent), bezprostřední (close, direct, imminent), bezodkladný (urgent), akutní (acute, imminent, urgent). (various references) | |
Danish | immediat-. (various references) | |
Dutch | prompt (accurate, on time, prompt, punctual). (various references) | |
Esperanto | tuja. (various references) | |
Farsi | فوری (Posthaste, Spontaneous, Spot, Sudden, Urgent), پهلوءی (Lateral, Next), ضروری (Imperative, Indispensable, Must, Necessary, Needful, Obligate, Urgent), انی (Instantaneous, Memnetary, Posthaste, Temporary), بی درنگ (Apace), بلافاصله , بلاواسطه . (various references) | |
Finnish | välitön (direct, natural, spontaneous, unaffected), suoranainen (direct). (various references) | |
French | immédiat. (various references) | |
German | unverzüglich (forthwith, immediately, immediatly, instantaneous, instantaneously, prompt, unhesitating, without delay), unmittelbar (actual, direct, directly, immediately, instant, instantaneous, instantaneously, intuitive, ocular, right away, straight), sofortig (instant, instantaneous, instantaneously), direkt (blunt, bluntly, clear, direct, directly, due, forthright, immediately, immediatly, lineal, live, one-level, outspoken, outspokenly, perfect, plain, plainly, plump, randomly, really, right, sheer, slap, squarely, straigh ahead, straight, straightly, unbroken, undeviating). (various references) | |
Greek | πλησιέστεροσ (nearest, next), άμεσοσ (direct, instant, proxioate), άμεσος (urgent). (various references) | |
Guarani | kuri (immediate past tense marker). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מידי (from, instant, instantaneous, prompt, spontaneous, spot, summary, swift), נחוץ (essential, imperative, necessary, needed, needful, required, requisite, urgent). (various references) | |
Hungarian | azonnali (instant, instantaneous, present, prompt). (various references) | |
Indonesian | segera (apace, ere, instant, presently, right away, straightway). (various references) | |
Italian | immediato (forthwith, immediately, instant, ocular, outright, prompt, snap, straightaway, unhesitating). (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 即座 (impromptu, right there on the spot). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | そくち (geodetic survey), そくざ (impromptu, right there on the spot), しだい (as soon as, circumstances, dependent upon, enormous, immense, magazine's price, order, precedence, private university or college), めさき (before one, near future), めのまえ (before one's eyes, imminent), イミディエイト , とうざ (current, for some time, present), ちょくせつ (decisiveness, direct, directness, firsthand, frank, personal, prompt, straightforward). (various references) | |
Korean | 즉시 (instant). (various references) | |
Norwegian | umiddelbar, øyeblikkelig (instant). (various references) | |
Papiamen | inmediato. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | immediateay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | imediato (direct, following, instant, next, oncoming, prompt, proximate). (various references) | |
Romanian | instantaneu (instantaneous, prompt, snap, snapshot, sudden, suddenly), imediat (anon, at once, before you could say jack robinson, directly, eftsoons, forthright, forthwith, immediately, in a trice, instanter, instantly, now, on short notice, on the instant, on the spot, out of hand, Pat, present, presently, prompt, quick as flash, right away, slick, soon, speak away, straight, straight away, this instant, urgent), urgent (clamorous, early, emergent, exigent, fast, grave, immediately, imperious, importunate, instant, pressing, special, urgent), direct (bluff, bluntly, candidly, categorical, direct, directly, due, fair, first hand, flat, formal, frankly, full, official, open, openly, outright, plump, straight, straightforward, straightforwardly, straightly, straightway, through), dat pe loc. (various references) | |
Russian | срочный (express, rash, time-bound, urgent), немедленный (instant, instantaneous), непосредственный (first hand, first-hand, on-the-spot, over-the-counter, proximate), безотлагательный;непосредственный, безотлагательный. (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | neposredan (close, direct, frank, outgiving, point blank, proximate, straightaway). (various references) | |
Spanish | inmediato (adjacent, instant, near, nearby, neighboring, neighbouring, next, ocular, prompt). (various references) | |
Swedish | omedelbar (direct, instant, prompting, proximate). (various references) | |
Thai | ที่ส่งผลโดยตรง, ทันทีทันใด (directly, quick, straight, straight away, sudden). (various references) | |
Turkish | yakın (adjacent, akin, akin to, approximate, at hand, by, close, close to, close-rage, connate, connected, connection, connexion, contiguous, convenient, familiar, handy, hard, hard by, imminent, inseparable, intimate, near, near at hand, nigh, not far, pending, proximate, relative, thick, within reach, within walking distance), hemen (anon, as soon as, at a word, at no time, at once, bang off, directly, forthwith, immediately, in a jiffy, in a snap, in an instant, in no time, in short order, in two ticks, incontinently, instantaneously, instanter, instantly, on the instant, on the spot, out of hand, outright, presently, prompt, pronto, right away, right of the bat, right off, slick, soon, straight away, straight off, straightaway, then and there), en yakın olan, dolaysız (direct, face to face, point blank), doğrudan (face to face, first hand, sheer), derhal (anon, at a word, at once, bang off, forthwith, immediately, in a jiffy, in an instant, in no time, instantaneously, instanter, instantly, out of hand, pronto, right away, right of the bat, right off, therewith), şu an ki, acil (crying, direful, exigent, importunate, insistent, instant, pressing, urgent). (various references) | |
Turkmen | nobatky (immediate at hand, next), nobatdaky (immediate at hand, next). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | негайний (instant, instantaneous, prompt, swift), найближчий (nearest, neighbor, neighbour, next, next door, proximate), безпосередній (direct, first hand, instant, play-by-play, proximate, spontaneous). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | trước mắt gần gũi, trực tiếp lập tức, tức thì (anon, forthwith), sát cạnh, ngay (direct, instanter, pronto, very), gần nhất (proximate). (various references) | |
Welsh | union.gyrchol (direct), di-oed (without delay), diatreg. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | medius. (various references) |
| Late Latin | 300-700 | immediatus. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | subdain. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "immediate": immediately, immediateness, immediatenesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Immediate" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: bimedia, emmediate, imedeate, imediat, imediate, imidiate, immdiate, immeadite, immedate, immediat, immediates, immediatist, immeidate, immidiate, immmediate, inmediate. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "immediate" (pronounced i'mē"dēut) |
| 6 | -m ē" d ē u t | intermediate, remediate. |
| 4 | -d ē u t | idiot. |
| 3 | -ē u t | appropriate, associate, baccalaureate, chariot, Cheviot, compatriot, inappropriate, lariat, laureate, opiate, patriot, proletariat, secretariat, soviet. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-e-i-i-m-m-t" | |
-2 letters: mediate. | |
-3 letters: ideate, itemed, maimed, meated, mediae, tammie, teamed. | |
-4 letters: adeem, admit, aimed, amide, demit, edema, emmet, imide, mamie, mated, media, medii, meted, mimed, tamed, teiid, timed, timid. | |
-5 letters: adit, aide, amid, amie, dame, date, deem, deet, deme, diet, dime, dita, dite, edit, eide, emit, idea, idem, imam, imid, item, made, maid, maim, mate. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-e-i-i-m-m-t" | |
+2 letters: immediately, impedimenta. | |
+3 letters: misestimated, semidiameter. | |
+4 letters: immediateness, semidiameters. | |
+5 letters: epigrammatized, immaterialized. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Images: Digital Art 8. Sounds | 9. Quotations: Familiar 10. Quotations: Historic 11. Quotations: Fiction 12. Quotations: Non-fiction | 13. Quotations: Spoken 14. Quotations: Speeches 15. Usage Frequency 16. Expressions | 17. Expressions: Internet 18. Translations: Modern 19. Translations: Ancient 20. Abbreviations | 21. Acronyms 22. Derivations 23. Rhymes 24. Anagrams | 25. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
