instantaneous adj : occurring with no delay; "relief was instantaneous"; "instant gratification" [syn: instant(a)]

English

Etymology

, 17th century

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪniəs

Adjective

1. Occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.

Quotations

• 1631, William Twisse, A discovery of D. Iacksons vanitie, ch. 6, p. 223,

  This instantaneous motion is supposed by you, to be infinitely swift.

• 1766, Oliver Goldsmith, The Vicar of Wakefield, ch. 14.

  However, no lovers in romance ever cemented a more instantaneous friendship.

• 1813, Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice, ch. 57,

  The colour now rushed into Elizabeth's cheeks in the instantaneous conviction of its being a letter from the nephew.

• 1907, Joseph Conrad, The Secret Agent, ch. 4,

  It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.

• 2007, Spector jury given graphic account of actress 'murder' Times Online, London, 30 May (retrieved 13 July 2007),

  He said that the bullet went through her head, severed her spine and death would have been almost instantaneous.

Synonyms

• instant

Derived terms

• instantaneously
• instantaneity

Translations

• Finnish: välitön, silmänräpäyksellinen, äkillinen
• French: instantané
• German: augenblicklich
• Italian: istantaneo
• Russian: мгновенный
• Spanish: instantáneo

References

• Webster 1828}}

Instantaneous means appearing on the moment, example:

• Instantaneous phase
• Instantaneous stability
• instantaneous power

alert, apt, brief, compact, compendious, concise, curt, curtal, curtate, decisive, decurtate, expeditious, fast, hair-trigger, immediate, instant, lightning-like, little, low, momentaneous, momentary, presto, prompt, punctual, quick, quick as lightning, quick as thought, rapid, ready, short, short and sweet, speedy, spontaneous, succinct, summary, swift, synoptic, transient, transitory