instant
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈɪnstənt/
Forms: form: instaunt
Etymology: From French instant and Middle English instant, both from Old French, from Latin instans (“standing by, being near, present, also urgent, importunate”), present participle of instō (“to stand upon, press upon, urge, pursue, insist”), from in (“on, upon”) + stō (“to stand”); see state.
Senses: examples: text: Impending death is thine, and instant doom.
ref: 1703, Matthew Prior, an Ode to Colonel George Villiers:
synonyms: word: pending
word: proximate
word: around the corner
word: at hand
word: forthcoming
word: imminent
word: impendent
word: impending
word: in the offing
word: in the wind
word: instant
word: on the boil
word: pending
word: upcoming
word: proximate
word: to come
word: toward
glosses: Impending; imminent.
glosses: Urgent; pressing; acute.
examples: text: Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:12:
text: January 2, 1827, Thomas Carlyle, letter to Mrs. Carlyle, Scotsbrig
I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of occupation.
synonyms: word: exigent
word: imperious
word: acute
word: bad
word: clamant
word: crying
word: dire
word: exigent
word: imperious
word: instant
word: rash
word: severe
word: pressing
word: pressive
word: urgent
glosses: Insistent; persistent.
examples: text: He received just two disciplinary reports prior to committing the instant offense, one in March 2019 for activating an alarm during a non-emergency situation, and one in May 2019 for failing to provide a urine specimen.
ref: December 28, 2019 Attorney Jeffery S. Levin, quoted in The Boston Globe, p. 3
topics: law
glosses: Present; current; extant.
examples: text: I ſee no day to To day, the inſtant Time is alvvayes the fitteſt time.
ref: 1645, Thomas Fuller, “Personall Meditations”, in Good Thoughts in Bad Times, […], Exeter, Devon: […] Thomas Hunt, →OCLC, section VIII, page 19:
text: No one, however, would have anything to do with him, as Mr. Keeson's orders in those respects were very strict ; he had often threatened any one of his employés with instant dismissal if he found him in company with one of these touts.
ref: 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Hocussing of Cigarette”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
text: As the body count rose, Tarrant quickly became a hero who had achieved a “new high score,” surpassing the former record holder Seung-Hui Cho of Virginia Tech. Tarrant attained instant cult status in the community.
ref: 2023 February 27, Luke Munn, “8chan's Playful Hate”, in Red Pilled - The Allure of Digital Hate, Bielefeld: Bielefeld University Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 37:
synonyms: word: instantaneous
word: flash
word: immediate
word: instant
word: insta-
word: instantaneous
word: present
glosses: Occurring immediately; immediate; present.
synonyms: word: brief
word: transient
word: ephemeral
word: brief
word: deciduous
word: evanescent
word: fleeting
word: flying
word: fugacious
word: fugitive
word: instant
word: momentary
word: passing
word: perishable
word: quick
word: seasonable
word: short
word: short-lived
word: temporary
word: transient
word: transitive
word: transitory
word: volatile
word: whilend
glosses: Lasting for a short moment; momentary; short-lived.
examples: text: instant coffee; instant noodles; instant mashed potato; instant photo
glosses: Very quickly and easily prepared.
examples: text: I refer to your letter of the 16th instant in regard to traffic disruption.
text: Vice-Admiral Kamimura reports that at dawn of the 14th instant, our squadron found, off Ulsan, the south-eastern coast of Corea, three ships of the Vladivostock squadron steaming southward.
ref: 1904 August 17 [1904 August 13], “KAMIMURA'S REPORT.”, in Hongkong Daily Press, number 14,467, Hong Kong, sourced from Tokyo and Kamimura Hikonojō, →OCLC, page 2, column 5:
text: I have maturely reflected on the subject of your letter of the 18th instant; and the more I have reflected the more I have become convinced, that I could not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal or disavowal which you seem to think necessary.
ref: 1979 [1804], Alexander Hamilton, “From Alexander Hamilton to Aaron Burr, 20 June 1804”, in Harold C. Syrett, editor, 1 May 1802 – 23 October 1804, Additional Documents 1774–1799, Addenda and Errata (The Papers of Alexander Hamilton; 26), New York: Columbia University Press, pages 247-249:
related: word: inst.
glosses: Of the current month.
Coordinate terms: english: of last month
translation: of last month
word: ultimo
english: of next month
translation: of next month
word: proximo
Derived terms: iBuyer
Instagram
instantize
instantise
instant karma
instant loss 2koma
instantly
instant mami
instant mash
instant mashed potatoes
instant message
instant messaging
instant messenger
instantness
instant noodle
instanton
instant replay
instant-runoff voting
instant sunshine
Related terms: instakill
instance