Meanings
nounimminence (usually uncountable, plural imminences)
plural imminences
- uncountableusuallyThe state or condition of being about to happen; imminent quality.
For three years there had been pestilence, and in the last of the three a famine; moreover, there was imminence of war.
1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC, page 61
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe state of being imminent and liable to happen soon
Broader
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latinimminentia
- Late Latinimminentia
- Englishimminence
Borrowed from Late Latin imminentia.
More words from Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian приближаване, близост
- приближаване (približavane)state or condition of being imminent
- близост (blizost)state or condition of being imminent
Catalan imminència
- imminènciastate or condition of being imminent
French imminence
- imminencestate or condition of being imminent
Norwegian Bokmål forestående nærhet
- forestående nærhetstate or condition of being imminent
Scottish Gaelic impis
- impisstate or condition of being imminent
Spanish inminencia
- inminenciastate or condition of being imminent
Swedish förestående
- föreståendestate or condition of being imminent
Cite this entry
APA
imminence. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imminence
MLA
“imminence.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imminence. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “imminence,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/imminence.
Source: imminence on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.