instant
adjEtymology 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.
8 senses
1
Dated Impending; imminent.
- Impending death is thine, and instant doom.1703, Matthew Prior, an Ode to Colonel George Villiers:
2
Dated Urgent; pressing; acute.
3
Dated Insistent; persistent.
- Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Romans 12:12:
- January 2, 1827, Thomas Carlyle, letter to Mrs. Carlyle, Scotsbrig I am beginning to be very instant for some sort of occupation.
4
Law Present; current; extant.
- 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.December 28, 2019 Attorney Jeffery S. Levin, quoted in The Boston Globe, p. 3
5
Occurring immediately; immediate; present.
- I ſee no day to To day, the inſtant Time is alvvayes the fitteſt time.1645, Thomas Fuller, “Personall Meditations”, in Good Thoughts in Bad Times, […], Exeter, Devon: […] Thomas Hunt, →OCLC, section VIII, page 19:
- 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.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:
2 more examples
- Gone are all the days of instant romance / And the nights of slow goodbyes / It was a time of life when foxy was the dance / And then you got wise to all of my abilis1978, Bionic Boogie, “Hot Butterfly”, in Gregg Diamond Bionic Boogie – Hot Butterfly (performed by Luther Vandross):
- 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.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:
6
Lasting for a short moment; momentary; short-lived.
7
Very quickly and easily prepared.
- instant coffee; instant noodles; instant mashed potato; instant photo
8
Dated Of the current month.
- I refer to your letter of the 16th instant in regard to traffic disruption.
- 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.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:
1 more example
- 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.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:
- Derived terms
- iBuyer, Instagram, instantise, instantize, instant karma, instant loss, 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 sunrise, instant sunshine