More words that are easy to confuse

Imminent/ immanent/ eminent/

The adjective imminent refers to something that is about to happen. It is often, but not always, something unpleasant that is being warned about. If there are storm clouds in the sky, then rain may be imminent. Something imminent may also be a good thing, as long as it is expected and anticipated. Something that is imminent cannot be called a surprise when it finally happens. The adjective imminent derives from a Latin term meaning to hang over something, so something that is imminent hangs over us.

The adjective eminent means respected, distinguished, renowned, esteemed, notable, and prestigious. The adjective eminent derives from a Latin term meaning to stick out. So someone who is eminent sticks out from the crowd. One of the most famous biographical books in the 20^th century was Eminent Victorians by Lytton Strachey. Eminent Victorians is unfortunately not in the collection of the Thammasat University Library, but it can be obtained through inter-library loan. The TU Library does own a biography of Queen Victoria by Lytton Strachey. There are many eminent people in the world. If we want to say that someone or something is even greater than eminent, the adjective preeminent may be useful. It means the greatest of all the eminent people or things, the one that stands before all the others in rank.

The adjective immanent is used less often. It is mostly seen in discussions at the Faculty of Philosophy. It means that something is innate, inborn, natural, or intrinsic. If some aspect is immanent in something else, then the thing cannot exist without that aspect. The adjective immanent derives from a Latin term meaning to live in or to exist in. So immanent refers to something inside something else that cannot be imagined without it.

How can we avoid confusing these similar terms? One way would be to be absolutely sure of one of them. We might try to remember the meaning of eminent by inventing a little sentence:

The eminent ajarn was exceptional and extraordinary. 

If we recall that the words eminent, exceptional, and extraordinary all describe a person who is outstanding, we have linked three words that begin with the letter e. This should remind us that the adjective eminent begins with the letter e. If so, we should be likely to  avoid confusing the word eminent with the words imminent or immanent.

If we are not students in the Faculty of Philosophy, we will probably never have to use the rare word immanent. So if we eliminate that spelling as a possibility, we are left with the word eminent, which we are sure of, and the other word similar to it that is seen in books and periodicals, imminent. This approach should reduce the number of times we confuse one of these words with another one.

Some usage examples:

• Eminent plastic surgeon denies links with ‘Face Off’ services.
• This year began on a sad note with the death on January 26 of the eminent sculptor Saiyart Sema-ngern, age 70.
• Eminent intellectual Seksan Prasertkul has called on people with varying ideologies – conservatives and progressives – to tolerate their differences and have an authentic dialogue so that Thai society can move forward with dynamism based on both “change and continuity.”
• Dr John Coyne is head of the border security programme at Australia’s pre-eminent national security think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.
• Eminent orchid expert Rapee Sagarik passed away on Saturday morning at the age of 95.
• The United Nations has gilded commemorations for this year’s centenary of the birth of Princess Prem (Ngarmchit) Purachatra – a granddaughter-in-law of King Chulalongkorn (Rama V) – by naming her to its list of eminent world personalities. Princess Ngarmchit died in 1983. The prestigious honours list appended annually since 1956 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco) acknowledges the global significance of the named individuals. Among Thais previously deemed eminent personalities are King Mongkut (Rama IV), King Prajadhipok (Rama VII) Queens Sri Savarindira and Sri Bajarindra, musician-composer Euah Suntornsanan and writer-politician Kukrit Pramoj.
• UNESCO joined the Royal Thai Government for a ceremony honouring the achievements of one of the forefathers of Thailand’s education system, Chao Phaya Prasadej Surendrathibodi (M.R. Pin Malakul). The event was held at Chulalongkorn University on 11 June 2017 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the birth of M.R. Pia Malakul, a UNESCO Eminent Personality of the World.
• Even within Ayutthaya National Park, there is no single standard that is applied to the conservation of sites, although the first considerations are the imminent danger to the structure as well its significance.
• Global mass extinction from extreme climate change is imminent and we are certainly not ready for it, warn scientists.
• Imminent floods in 9 Bangkok areas.
• The Bank of Thailand is under no “imminent” pressure to raise interest rates like emerging markets peers elsewhere given the nation’s solid buffers and relatively strong currency, governor Veerathai Santiprabhob said.
• Thailand cave rescue: no rescue attempt imminent, says governor.
• Thai rescuers evacuate cave area, rescue bid for trapped boys seen as imminent.
• Fears mount over imminent changes to healthcare.
• The Ministry of Public Health has ordered hospitals in flood-risking areas in 44 provinces to get prepared for imminent flooding and take early measures for patient service.
• The imminent threat of climate change.
• North Korea still poses a “serious and imminent threat,” Japan said Tuesday in its first annual defence review since tensions eased on the Korean peninsula.
• China says space lab’s re-entry imminent, off Sao Paulo.
• This translation of justification to an ‘ immanent ‘ plane was an act of pastoral simplicity.
• Then we are dealing with something absolutely singular that cannot be dealt with on the terms of immanent holism.
• The result is numerous ‘readings’ of immanent meaning, hermeneutic strategies of breadth (rather than depth) and an overriding concern with the processes of symbolic representation.
• It describes the immanent structure of the environments and releases the potential interactions between the instrumental and the electronics of mixed music.
• But of course, no anthropologist can ever ‘see’ a social relationship: such relations are immanent in their effects.
• The self, rather than race or civilisation was the immanent site of difference.
• The basic assumption behind the ritual, of course, was that justice was immanent in nature and in the human body.
• Rather, this impact is due to the fact that his chaotic model displays the essence of atmospheric motion, its immanent chaotic dynamics.
• It’s the immanent presence of the object, rather than the representation of the subject.
• The input that is immanent within the output gives a handle on a range of opacity phenomena.
• Miracle or not, it might be wondered whether it is plausible to believe that immanent-causal relations can cross a temporal gap.
• The vision usually included a notion of an incipient or immanent international society composed of civilized nations.
• Narrative uncovers what insomnia covers over – the immanent end.
• The dynamics are immanent in the recognizable event whose spatial-temporal form is determined by those dynamics.

(All images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)