Immediate vs. Instant — What's the Difference?

Occurring at once; happening without delay

In physics and the philosophy of science, instant refers to an infinitesimal interval in time, whose passage is instantaneous. In ordinary speech, an instant has been defined as "a point or very short space of time," a notion deriving from its etymological source, the Latin verb instare, from in- + stare ('to stand'), meaning 'to stand upon or near.'The continuous nature of time and its infinite divisibility was addressed by Aristotle in his Physics, where he wrote on Zeno's paradoxes.

Of or near the present time

A period of time so short as to be almost imperceptible.

Of or relating to the present time and place; current

A particular or precise time

Close at hand; near

Abbr. inst. The current month

Next in line or relation

A food or beverage designed for quick preparation.

Acting or occurring without the interposition of another agency or object; direct

Occurring at once; immediate

Happening right away, instantly, with no delay.

Imperative; urgent

Very close; direct or adjacent.

Now under consideration; present.

Manifestly true; requiring no argument.

Commercially prepared or processed for quick and easy final preparation

Embedded as part of the instruction itself, rather than stored elsewhere (such as a register or memory location).

Appearing, done, or taking place with great quickness and ease

Used to denote that a transmission is urgent.

Quickly and easily resolved or determined

An artillery fire mission modifier for to types of fire mission to denote an immediate need for fire: Immediate smoke, all guns involved must reload smoke and fire. Immediate suppression, all guns involved fire the rounds currently loaded and then switch to high explosive with impact fused (unless fuses are specified).

At once; instantly.

Not separated in respect to place by anything intervening; proximate; close; as, immediate contact.

A very short period of time; a moment.

Not deferred by an interval of time; present; instant.

A single, usually precise, point in time.

Acting with nothing interposed or between, or without the intervention of another object as a cause, means, or agency; acting, perceived, or produced, directly; as, an immediate cause.

A beverage or food which has been pre-processed to reduce preparation time, especially instant coffee.

Very close or connected in space or time;

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Having no intervening medium;

(dated) Impending; imminent.

Immediately before or after as in a chain of cause and effect;

(dated) Urgent; pressing; acute.

Of the present time and place;

(dated) Insistent; persistent.

Performed with little or no delay;

(legal) Present; current; extant.

Occurring immediately; immediate; present.

Lasting for a short moment; momentary; short-lived.

Very quickly and easily prepared.

Of the current month.

(poetic) At once; immediately.

Pressing; urgent; importunate; earnest.

Closely pressing or impending in respect to time; not deferred; immediate; without delay.

Present; current.

Instantly.

A point in time; a moment; a portion of time too short to be estimated; also, any particular moment; as, teh situation may change in an instant.

A very short time (as the time it takes the eye blink or the heart to beat);

A particular point in time;

Occurring with no delay;

In or of the present month;

Demanding attention;