instantaneous
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From New Latin īnstāntāneus, from Latin īnstantem.
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]instantaneous (not comparable)
- Occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time. [from 17th c.]
- Synonyms: immediate, instant; see also Thesaurus:instantaneous
- 1631, William Twisse, chapter VI, in A Discovery of D. Iacksons vanitie, page 223:
- This instantaneous motion is supposed by you, to be infinitely swift.
- 1766, [Oliver Goldsmith], “Fresh Mortifications, or a Demonstration that Seeming Calamities may be Real Blessings”, in The Vicar of Wakefield: […], volume I, Salisbury, Wiltshire: […] B. Collins, for F[rancis] Newbery, […], →OCLC, page 137:
- However, no lovers in romance ever cemented a more inſtantaneous friendſhip.
- 1813 January 27, [Jane Austen], chapter XV, in Pride and Prejudice: […], volume III, London: […] [George Sidney] for T[homas] Egerton, […], →OCLC, page 262:
- The colour now rushed into Elizabeth's cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew, instead of the aunt; [...]
- 1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale, London: Methuen & Co., […], published 1907, →OCLC; The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright edition, Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1907, →OCLC, pages 68–69:
- I walk always with my right hand closed round the india-rubber ball which I have in my trouser pocket. The pressing of this ball actuates a detonator inside the flask I carry in my pocket. It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.
- 1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London: Rider/Hutchinson & Co., page 129:
- The penis is the perfectly obvious and natural symbol of instantaneous time.
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time
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References
[edit]- instantaneous in An American Dictionary of the English Language, by Noah Webster, 1828.
- “instantaneous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
- “instantaneous”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.
- "instantaneous" in Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Cambridge University Press, 2007)
- "instantaneous" in Compact Oxford English Dictionary, (Oxford University Press, 2007)
- Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
Categories:
- English terms derived from New Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 5-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/eɪniəs
- Rhymes:English/eɪniəs/5 syllables
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English uncomparable adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms suffixed with -aneous
- en:Time