immediacy 
(a) Direct relation or connection ; freedom from any In- 
tervening medium. 
He asserts that, in his doctrine of perception, the exter- 
nal reality stands, to the percipient mind, face to face, In 
the tame immediacy of relation which the idea holds in 
the representative theory of the philosophers. 
Sir W. Hamilton. 
(b) Specifically, the condition of being in direct relation 
with a head or chief; the feudal rank next to that of the 
suzerain. 
He led our powers ; 
Bore the commission of my place and person ; 
Tlir which inininliaeii may well stand up, 
And call itself your brother. Shak., Lear, v. 3. 
All immediate church territory was secularized except 
a little imrt of that of Mayence, and, this not sufficing, 
all but six of the fifty-one imperial towns and the villages 
of the same class lost their immediacy, and were put into 
the hands of princes who received compensation. 
Woolsey, Introd. to Inter. Law, App. 11., p. 398. 
(c) In metajih., direct presence; spontaneous existence, not 
dependent on anything; absolute or non-relative being. 
The a priori aspect or imiiu'.diacttot thought, where there 
is a mediation not made by anything external but by a re 
flection into self, is another name for universality, the com- 
placency or contentment of thought which is so much at 
ease with itself that it feels an innate aversion to descend 
to particulars. Ueyel, tr. by Wallace. 
A primitive immediacy or absolute Identity of subject 
and object at some point back of all of individual experi- 
ence perhaps is thus postulated. 
G. S. Hall, German Culture, p. 172. 
immediate (i-me'di-at), a. [= F. imme'diat = 
Sp. inmediato = Pg. It. immediate, < ML. *im- 
mediates, not mediate, < L. in- priv. +- ML. 
mediates, mediate: see mediate, a.] 1. Not 
separated from its object or correlate by any 
third or medium; directly related; indepen- 
dent of any intermediate agency or action: 
opposed to remote: as, an immediate cause. 
He hath bin pleas'd to make himselfe the agent and t'nt- 
merfiat performer of their desires. 
Milton, Apology for Smectymnuus. 
Moses mentions the immediate causes of the deluge, the 
rains and the waters ; and St. Peter mentions the more 
remote and fundamental causes, that constitution of the 
heavens. Burnet. 
The sensible qualities are the immediate objects of the 
senses ; a substance invested with those qualities, the me- 
diate. Bttrgersdicius, tr. by a Gentleman. 
The Consistory, like the Bishop, is under the immediate 
direction of the Holy Governing Synod. 
J. X. Neale, Eastern Church, J. 1184. 
2. Having no space or object intervening; near- 
est; proximate; having the closest relation: 
as, immediate contact; the immediate neighbor- 
hood. 
What ! rate, rebuke, and roughly send to prison 
Th immediate heir of England ! 
Shak., 2 Hen. IV., v. 2. 
These two commandments are immediate to each other, 
and of the greatest cognation. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835X I. 215. 
3. Without any time intervening; without any 
delay; present; instant: often used, like simi- 
lar absolute expressions, with less strictness 
than the literal meaning requires: as, an - 
mediate answer; immediate despatch. 
Tis time we twain 
Did show ourselves i the field ; and, to that end, 
Assemble me immediate council. 
Shot., A. and C., L 5. 
Immediate are the acts of God, more swift 
Than time or motion. ililton., P. L., vil. 178. 
The dead lulls of tropical seas are the immediate fore- 
runners of tornadoes. />, Quincey, Philos. of Rom. Hist. 
The commander of the Swiss, and some other officers, 
were for immediate action. Prescott, Ferd. and l&a., ii. 12. 
4. In metaph., indemonstrable; intuitive; of 
the character of a direct perception not worked 
over by the mind, immediate truths are of two kinds, 
those which are the direct testimony of the senses, and 
general axioms : the existence of both kinds Is in ques- 
tion. 
Where certainty is mediate, one judgment is often spo- 
ken of as the ground of another; bat a syllogism is still 
psychologically a single, though not a simple, judgment, 
and the certainty of it as a whole is immediate. 
J. Ward, Encyc. Brit, XX. 83. 
Immediate agglutination, certainty, evidence. See 
the nouns. Immediate contraries. See contrary-. 
Immediate good, that which is recognized as an end in 
itself, and is not merely useful in bringing about some end. 
Immediate Inference, the name first given by Wolf 
to a necessary inference from a single premise, because it 
has no middle term, being a mere transformation of a prop- 
osition. Immediate knowledge, (a) Knowledge of a 
thinir or ;in event in its existence, as here and now, by a con- 
sciousness of its direct presence. In this sense, immediate 
knowledge does not imply a perception of the thing-in- 
itself, hut only ;i real and direct consciousness of the reac- 
tion between self and not-self, (ft) Knowledge of an ob- 
ject as it exists, so that the qualities of our cognition are 
the qualities of the thing-ln-itself. Immediate testi- 
mony, in (air, testimony U> the personal experience of the 
witness. 
immediately (i-me'di-at-li). <uh\ 1. In an im- 
mediate manner; with' out the intervention of 
anything; proximately; directly. 
2907 
immerit 
Knowing myself to take and hold the said Archbishopric 
immediately and only of your Highness, and of none other. 
immenseness (i-mens'nes), n. The character 
Abp. CranmeriOafho/O/i-e, in k W. Uixons Hist. . or state f l ^j?8 immense ; immensity. 
[Church of Kng., Hi., note, immensiblet (i-men'si-bl), a. [< L. in- pnv. 
+ meiinug, pp. of metiri, measure : see metel, 
Immeasurable. 
If the sun were in the zenith or iuuiwdi<ttfhi overhead, 
the most vivid effects would be found on the horizon. 
Spottitwoode, Polarisation, p. 81. 
2. Without lapse of time; without delay ; in- 
stantly. 
And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, 
I will ; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was 
cleansed. Mat. viii. ::. 
Hell eat but half a dozen bits, and rise immediately. 
Fletcher, Spanish Curate, II. 4. 
-Syn. 2. Instantaneously, promptly, forthwith, straight- 
way. 
immediateness (i-me'di-at-nes), n. The char- 
acter or quality of being immediate, in any sense 
of that word. 
immediatism (i-me'di-a-tizm), n. [<. immediate 
+ -ism.] The quality of being immediate. 
immedicable (i-med'i-ka-bl), a. [= Sp. inmedi- 
cable = It. immedicabile, < L. immeilicabilis, in- 
medicabilis, incurable, < in- priv. + medicabilix, 
curable: see medicable.'] Not amenable to med- 
icine; incapable of being healed; incurable. 
My griefs . . . 
for less I 
Nor less than .wounds immedicaljle 
Rankle, and fester, and gangrene. 
Milton, S. A., 1.620. 
But who rains down 
Evil, the immedicable plague? 
Shelley, Prometheus Unbound, ii. 4. 
immelodioust (im-e-16'di-us), a. [< in- 3 + melo- 
dious."] Unmelodibus. 
When immeloilioux winds but made thee fa lute] move, 
And birds on thee their ramage did bestow. 
Drvmmond, Sonnets, ii. 10. 
immemorablet (i-mem'o-ra-bl), a. [= P. im- 
memorable = Sp. inmemorable = Pg. immemo- 
ravcl = It. immemorabile, immemorial, < L. im- 
mcmorabilis, inmemorabilis, not worth mention- 
ing, also silent, < in- priv. + memorabilis, to be 
mentioned : see memorable.] Not memorable ; 
not worth remembering. Minsheu, 1617. 
immemorial (im-e-mo'ri-al), a. [= Sp. inme- 
morial = Pg. immemorial; as in- 3 H- memorial.] 
Not within the bounds of memory ; of unknown 
duration ; extending back beyond record or tra- 
dition. 
All the laws of this kingdom have some memorials in 
writing, yet all have not their original in writing ; for some 
obtained their force by immemorial usage or custom. 
Sir M. Hole. 
A country belonging to a people who were In posses- 
sion for time immemorial. 
Goldsmith, Citizen of the World, xvil. 
In the oldest forms of nobility, the origin of the dis- 
tinction is strictly immemorial ; there is no record of the 
way it began, no record how this and that house in a state 
came to be looked on as more noble than others. 
E. A. Freeman, Amur. Letts., p. 282. 
Lmmemorially (im-e-mo'ri-al-i), adv. In an im- 
memorial manner ; from time out of mind. 
The territory of Saba, which immemorially has been 
the mart of frankincense, myrrh, and balsam. 
Bruce, Source of the Nile, I. 444. 
immense (i-mens'), a. and n. [< F. immense = 
Sp. inmenso = Pg. It. immense, < L. immensus, 
inmensus, unmeasured, boundless, < in- priv. + 
menstis, pp. of metiri, measure : see mete 1 , mea- 
sure.] I, a. 1. So great as to be beyond mea- 
surement ; immeasurable ; limitless ; bound- 
less ; incomprehensible. 
Witness this new-made world, another heaven, . . . 
Of amplitude almost immense. Milton, P. L., vii. 620. 
God is too large, too immense, and then man is too nar- 
row, too little to be considered ; for who can fix his eye 
upon an atom ? Donne, Sermons, vii. 
2. Of vast extent, bulk, or quantity; very great ; 
huge; inordinate: as, an immense territory ; an 
immense sum; an immense eater (a colloquial 
expression). 
A corner cupboard, knowingly left open, displayed im- 
mense treasures of old silver and well-mended china. 
Irving, Sketch-Book, p. 430. 
I could only distinguish an immense vault, like a high 
cavern, without aisles. B. James, Jr., Little Tour, p. 139. 
3. Very good or fine; very striking, attractive, 
or interesting. [Slang.] 
The afterpiece is said to be immenxe. 
Florida Times-Union, Feb. 8, 1888. 
= Syn. 1 and 2. Excessive, etc. See enormous. 
II. n. Infinite space; immensity. [Poeti- 
cal.] 
When this ball of rock and clay 
Crumbles from my feet away, 
And the solid shores of sense 
Melt into the vague immenne. 
WHmur, Andrew Uykman's Prayer. 
immensely (i-tnens 'Ii), <i>lr. To an immense 
extent or degree ; exceedingly. 
measure.] 
For should I touch thy minde (intangible. 
Fraught with whateuer makes or good or great, 
As learning, language, artos immentible, 
Witt, courage, eourtesie, and all compleat), 
I should but straiiie my skill to do thee wrong. 
Danes, To Worthy Anon*. 
immensity (i-men'si-ti), n. ; pi. immensities 
(-tiz). [= F. immensiM = Pr. tmmensitat, in- 
mensitat = Sp. inmensidad = Pg. immensidade 
= It. immensita, < L. immensita(t-)s, inmensi- 
ta(t-)s, unmeasurableness, < immensus, iiiim //- 
sus, unmeasurable : see immense.] 1. The char- 
acter or state of being immense, (a) Immeainr- 
ableness; boundlessness; infinitude. 
Through the thick Fogs of Adversity ... we come to 
see God, and the Immensity of his Love, in a fuller Pro- 
portion. Hiimll, Letters, I. vi. 55. 
By the power we find in ourselves of repeating as often 
as we will any Idea of space, we get the idea of immensity. 
Locke, Human Lndcrstanding, II. xvil. 5. 
(6) Vastness ; hugeness ; enormous extent or degree : as, 
the immensity of the Roman empire. 
A glimpse of the immensity of the material system is 
granted to the eye of man. Is. Taylor. 
2. That which is immense ; an extent not to be 
measured; infinity; especially, infinite space or 
the universe in space. 
All these illustrious worlds. 
Lost In the wilds of vast immeiaity, 
Are suns. Blackmore. 
Mighty Rome, to the north, lying at no great length in 
the Idle immensity around it. 
//. James, Jr., Trans. Sketches, p. 172. 
3. A vast extent, degree, bulk, or quantity; a 
very great amount. 
immensivet (i-men'siv), a. [< OF. immensif; 
as immense + -ice.] Immense. 
Then this immennve cup 
of aromatike wine, 
Catullus, I qnaffe up 
To that terce muse of thine. 
lltrrich, Hesperides, p. 84. 
immensurability (i-men'su-ra-bil'j-ti), . [< 
immensurable: see -bilitij.] The quality of be- 
ing immensurable ; immeasurableness. 
immensurable (i-men'su-ra-bl), a. [= F. im- 
mensurable = Sp. inmensurable = Pg. immensu- 
ravel = It. immensttrabile, < LL. immensurabilis, 
immeasurable, < L. in- priv. + LL. menstira- 
bilis, mensurable : see mensurable.] Incapable 
of being measured ; immeasurable. 
The law of nature, . . 
a term of immensurable extent. 
Ward. 
immensurate (i-men'su-rat), a. [< LL. immen- 
suratus, not measured, < L. in- priv. + LL. 
mensuratua, measured, pp. of mensurare, mea- 
sure: see mensurate, measure, v.] Unmeasured; 
immeasurable. [Bare.] 
Created nature . . . fell into an immfnsurnt'- distance 
from It [heaven]. W. Montague, Devoute Essays, II. ix. f 1. 
immer (im'er), n. Same as ember-goose. 
immerdt (i-merd'), v. t. [< F. emmerder, cover 
with dung, < L. in, on, + merda, dung.] To 
cover with dung. 
Let daws delight to immerit themselves in dung, whilst 
eagles scorn so poor a game as flies. 
Quartet, Emblems, Int. 
immerge (i-merj'), . ; pret. and pp. immcrged, 
ppr. immerging. [= F. immerger = Sp. inmer- 
gir = It. immergere, < L. immergere, inmergere, 
dip or plunge into, < in, in, + mergere, dip, 
plunge: see merge. Cf. emerge.] I.t trans. To 
plunge into or under anything, especially into 
a fluid; immerse. 
The church of God . . . was then holy, not in title only 
and design, but practically and materially, and persecut- 
ed, and not immeryed in secular temptations. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 18S6X H. 29. 
Yon may immtrye it, replied he, Into the ocean, and It 
will stand. Sterne, Sentimental Journey, The Wig. 
H. intrans. To disappear by entering into 
any medium, as a star into the light of the sun, 
or the moon into the shadow of the earth. 
immerger (i-m^r'jer), n. That which immerges 
or dives : specifically applied in ornithology to 
the Mergitores or divers. 
immer-goose (im'er-gos), n. A dialectal vari- 
ant of ember-goose. 
immeritt (i-mer'it), n. [< in-3 + merit, .] 
Want of merit or worth; demerit. 
When I receive your lines, and find there expressions 
of a passion, reason and my own immerit tell me it must 
not be for me. SacUiwj. 
