Impending
/ɪmˈpɛn.dɪŋ/noun
About to happen; looming soon, often with a sense of threat or inevitability.
Did you know?The word comes from Latin *impendere*, meaning “to hang over,” which is why it feels so ominous: the danger is imagined as suspended above you like fate itself.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pen-
“to hang, suspend”
Latin
Latin
pendere
“to hang, weigh”
Latin
Latin
impendere
“to hang over; to threaten”
Late Latin
Latin
impendens
“hanging over; imminent”
14th–15th Century
English
impending
“about to occur, especially as a threat or danger”
Modern English
English
impending
“approaching soon; looming”