Thursday, September 6, 2012

imminent, immanent, eminent

Imminent or imminent ( pronounced  imm ih nent ) describes something that is about to happen soon--
They spent the weekend preparing for an imminent disaster that never happened.
In old crime novels, the hero often worries about his imminent demise.

Immanent or immanent ( pronounced imm uh nent ) describes something that exists only in the mind--
His great resolve to change remained immanent; his behavior stayed the same.
Some people believe that religion should be an immanent philosophy, with no connection to action.

Eminent or eminent ( pronounced emm ih nent ) describes a  famous, well-respected or noteworthy  person--
The reporter asked an eminent psychiatrist his opinion of the legal proceedings.
They were hopeful when the eminent surgeon agreed to do the operation.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"An eminent preacher was sure that his immanent philosophy of an internalized God would save believers from imminent destruction."

Note--emanant ( related to emanate ) means flowing or issuing forth, literally, or moving from an idea or emotion toward action, figuratively--
The jury decided that the act was one of emanant volition.
They were choking on the emanant smoke, and had trouble calling for help.

1 comment:

  1. Your definition of immanent is incorrect. It means "inherent" and is the opposite of transcendent.

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