Etymologically
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immédiatement

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /i.me.djat.mɑ̃/[1]

Forms

immédiatement (invariable)[1]

Etymology

It is from French immédiat + -ment.[2][3][4][5] immédiat (1382) is borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without intermediary”), from in- (“not”) and medius (“middle, intermediate”).[2][6][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Le Guidon en françoys (1534) uses it for “directly, without an intermediary”; the GLLF has an example from 1503.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The sense “without an intermediary” was usual in classical French: Racine says that the abbey of Port-Royal had long depended immédiatement on the archbishop.[4] Descartes uses it in 1641 in a philosophical sense, still current.[4][7] Hulsius records the sense “at once, straight away” in 1602, now the usual one, and Crespin (1606 or 1616) the sense “just before or after (in space)”, as in suivre immédiatement.[2][4]

Timeline

  • 1534 – “Directly, without an intermediary”.[2]
  • 1602 – “At once”, in Hulsius.[2]
  • 1616 – “Just before or after (in space)”, in Crespin.[2]
  • 1641 – In philosophy, in Descartes.[4]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Immediately, at once, without delay: sortez immédiatement ![7][1]
  2. Just before or after (in space or order): précéder, suivre immédiatement.[7][2]
  3. (philosophy, literary) Directly, without an intermediary.[7][4]
  • immédiat
  • médiat
  • Late Latin immediātus

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  6. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert