likely to occur at any moment; impending: Her death is imminent.
2.
projecting or leaning forward; overhanging.
Origin: 1520–30; < Latin imminent- (stem of imminēns), present participle of imminēre to overhang, equivalent to im-im-1 + -min- from a base meaning “jut out, project, rise” (compare eminent, mount2) + -ent--ent
Related forms
im·mi·nent·ly, adverb
im·mi·nent·ness, noun
un·im·mi·nent, adjective
Can be confused:eminent, immanent, imminent (see synonym note at the current entry).
Synonyms 1. near, at hand. Imminent,Impending,Threatening all may carry the implication of menace, misfortune, disaster, but they do so in differing degrees. Imminent may portend evil: an imminent catastrophe, but also may mean simply “about to happen”: The merger is imminent. Impending has a weaker sense of immediacy and threat than imminent: Real tax relief legislation is impending, but it too may be used in situations portending disaster: impending social upheaval; to dread the impending investigation. Threatening almost always suggests ominous warning and menace: a threatening sky just before the tornado struck.
1528, from L. imminentem (nom. imminens), prp. of imminere "to overhang, impend, be near," from in- "into" + minere "jut out," related to mons "hill" (see mount).