immediate

Everyday

1. Immediate means happening at once, with no delay. tree →
2. Immediate means nearest in place, time or relationship: your immediate family is your parents, brothers and sisters. tree →
3. Immediate means needing attention now: an immediate danger. tree →
4. Immediate can also mean direct, coming straight from the person or thing itself with no go-between. tree →

In the lessons

In safety lessons «seek immediate help» means get help right away. In everyday life «immediate family» means the closest relatives. In exam and formal language it means «straight away». Phrases: immediate effect, immediate action, immediate area, immediate family.

Examples

• The fire needs immediate action — call 999! tree →
• The medicine had an immediate effect. tree →
• Only immediate family came to the small wedding. tree →
• There was no immediate danger, so we stayed calm. tree →
• Leave the building immediately when the alarm rings. tree →
• We live in the immediate area of the school. tree →
• Her reply was immediate: «Yes!» tree →
• The great bulk of them are not the immediate work of Æsop. tree →

Note

Spelling: double m — imMEDiate. Adverb: immediately (often «at once»). «Immediate» has no comparative in normal use. In maths: «the immediate next number» after 7 is 8.

In Jewish tradition

In safety lessons «seek immediate help» means get help right away. In everyday life «immediate family» means the closest relatives. In exam and formal language it means «straight away». Phrases: immediate effect, immediate action, immediate area, immediate family.

Examples

• 23) The ancient philosophers maintained that if God is the first cause, and He is necessarily, He, the immediate effect of Him, as an absolute unity, (Sefer Yetzirah, Kalisch 1877) tree →

Note

Spelling: double m — imMEDiate. Adverb: immediately (often «at once»). «Immediate» has no comparative in normal use. In maths: «the immediate next number» after 7 is 8.