Immediate
/ɪˈmiːdiət/noun
Occurring or done without delay; happening at once.
Did you know?In Latin, the word formed from a prefix of negation plus a root meaning “to stand in the middle,” so the original image was of something with nothing interposed between you and it.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*medhyo-
“middle”
Latin
Latin
immediatus
“not placed in the middle; direct, unbroken”
Late Latin
Latin
immediat-
“direct; without anything intervening”
Middle English
English
immediate
“direct, next in order, unmediated”
Modern English
English
immediate
“occurring at once; without delay”
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