immediatus

Forms

immediātus (feminine immediāta, neuter immediātum); first/second-declension adjective^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin in-² (“not”) + mediātus (“placed in the middle”),^[2][1][3] a calque of Ancient Greek ἄμεσος (ámesos, “without a middle, immediate”).^[1][2] The base goes back to medius (“middle”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL finds it first in Rufinus' translation of the Clementine Recognitions (c. 345–411/412 AD), asking what is first of all and what is next to it,^[2][4] and then in Boethius, whose immediāta prōpositiō renders Greek ἄμεσος (ámesos).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Its core sense is “with nothing in between”: next, closest, direct.^[2][5] Medieval philosophers used it of contraries with no middle term between them (good and evil, for Lanfranc), of an immediate cause or effect, and of self-evident propositions;^[6][7] in other texts it means adjacent in place and, as an adverb, “at once”.^[7] English immediate came through Old French in the late 14th century, first as “intervening”.^[3]

Timeline

• c. 345–411/412 AD – Rufinus has it of what comes next in order.^[2][4]
• 13th century – Albert the Great uses it in philosophy.^[4]
• late 14th century – English immediate is borrowed through Old French.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (Late Latin) With nothing between, immediate, next.^[2][5][1]
2. (Late and Medieval Latin) direct (of a cause, effect or means).^[6][8]
3. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) Having no middle term;^[6] (of contraries) diametrically opposed.^[6]
4. (Medieval Latin) adjacent, neighbouring.^[7]

Related words

• medius
• English immediate

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
5. ^ a b Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill
6. ^ a b c d Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
8. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson