instant

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛ̃s.tɑ̃/^[1]

Forms

instant (feminine instante, masculine plural instants, feminine plural instantes)^[1]

Etymology

The noun is the adjective “instant” used as a noun, formed in French; the adjective is borrowed from Latin īnstāns (“present; pressing, imminent”), the present participle of īnstō (“to stand upon; to press hard; to be imminent”), from in- and stō (“to stand”).^[2][3][4][5] Old Occitan had “instant” “near, next” from 1296.^[4][3] The Medieval Latin of England used “instans” as a noun for “a very short moment” from about 1120.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun is recorded once in 1212, in an Anglo-Norman translation of Gregory's Dialogues (en cel meïsme instant, rendering Latin eodem momento), and then from 1365; the adjective ystant “imminent” is in Froissart at the end of the 14th century.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The noun was rare from the 14th to the early 16th century (Oresme uses it in 1377) and became common in the Renaissance, when many adverbial phrases appeared: en un instant (1495), à l'instant (1540), à l'instant même (1559), à chaque instant (1580) and sur l'instant (1593, earlier sus l'instant in Rabelais, 1534).^[2][3] Tout à l'instant was dropped by the Académie in its eighth edition but is still used by Montherlant (1944).^[2]

The adjective meant “imminent” and, from 1550 (Du Bellay), “pressing”; all its uses are now archaic, legal or literary, as in une prière instante.^[4][3][6]

Timeline

• 1212 – An isolated instant in an Anglo-Norman text.^[2]
• 1365 – L'instant “the moment”.^[2]
• 1377 – Instant in Oresme.^[2][3]
• Late 14th century – The adjective ystant, in Froissart.^[4]
• 1495 – En un instant.^[3]
• 1540 – À l'instant.^[2]
• 1550 – The adjective “pressing”, in Du Bellay.^[4]
• 1604 – Instantané.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. A very short time, a moment: un instant, attendez un instant.^[6]
2. The present moment: profiter de l'instant.^[6]
3. À l'instant: just now; at once, en un instant: in no time, pour l'instant: for now.^[2][6]

Adjective

1. (literary) pressing, urgent: une demande instante.^[6]

Word family

• instantané
• instantanéité
• instamment

Related words

• instance
• Latin īnstāns

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f 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
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 721a
6. ^ a b c d e Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France