instant

Forms

instant m or f or n (indeclinable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from English instant.^[2][3][4][1] DEX labels it an English word.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the 1988 supplement to DEX, with the senses “instantaneous” and “prepared quickly by dissolving”.^[3] Dimitrescu's dictionary of recent words quotes powdered lapte praf instant “instant milk” from a newspaper of 1993.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Romanian took it with the food sense, of drinks and dishes made quickly without boiling.^[3][2] In the 1990s and 2000s the press used it more widely, of an instant lottery ticket (1998), a house built in two days and instant messaging.^[5] It is normally invariable, but Wiktionary also records an inflected adjective and an adverb “instantly”, both nonstandard.^[1]

Timeline

• 1988 – the first record, in the DEX supplement.^[3]
• 1993 – lapte praf instant “instant milk powder” in the press.^[5]
• 1998 – loz instant “instant lottery ticket”.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Instantaneous, rapid.^[2][3]
2. (of food and drinks) instant: quickly prepared, usually by dissolving a concentrate.^[2][3][1]
3. (nonstandard; inflected) Immediate, present.^[1]

Adverb

1. (nonstandard) instantly.^[1]

Related words

• instantaneu
• English instant

Usage notes

The standard adjective is invariable: cafea instant, supe instant.^[2][5] Wiktionary marks the inflected forms (instantă, instanți) and the adverb as nonstandard.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 511
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1143
4. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. instant
5. ^ a b c d e Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. instant