Etymologically
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immediatus

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɪm.mɛ.diˈaː.tʊs][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [im.me.diˈaː.tus][1]

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]

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