im·mi·nent

[im-uh-nuhnt]
adjective
1.
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” (cf. eminent, mount2) + -ent- -ent

im·mi·nent·ly, adverb
im·mi·nent·ness, noun
un·im·mi·nent, adjective

eminent, immanent, imminent.


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.


1. distant, remote.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Imminent is a GRE word you need to know.
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to connect or relate to intimately; affect as a consequence:
To beg for something urgently or persistently.
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World English Dictionary
imminent (ˈɪmɪnənt) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
adj
1.  liable to happen soon; impending
2.  obsolete jutting out or overhanging
 
[C16: from Latin imminēre to project over, from im- (in) + -minēre to project; related to mons mountain]
 
'imminence
 
n
 
'imminentness
 
n
 
'imminently
 
adv

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

imminent
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).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Example sentences
But geologists point to an upsurge in seismic activity last year as a sign of
  an imminent eruption.
Currency markets twitched, as a euro-area implosion began to look distinctly
  possible, if not imminent.
It grieves for lost influence, or fears the imminent loss of influence, and it
  shudders at an increasingly shabby present.
Alas, this does not guarantee that the bottom is imminent.
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