immanence

noun

im·​ma·​nence ˈi-mə-nən(t)s How to pronounce immanence (audio)
: the quality or state of being immanent
especially : inherence

Examples of immanence in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web With TikTok, however, transcendence is exchanged for immanence within the app. WIRED, 6 Nov. 2022 His films stand as proof of his belief in the immanence of the material world, a place where the only higher powers are the laws of physics: speed, weight, force, gravity. Geoffrey O’Brien, The New York Review of Books, 5 Oct. 2022 Eventually, the cuts between eerily still shots of rippling waters or windswept trees will emerge as driven by a desire to capture the immanence of the natural world, to relish in its beauty and to remain awestruck by its resilience. Manuel Betancourt, Variety, 5 Feb. 2022 Departing from Christian doctrines that saw space to be empty of everything but God’s immanence, Newton eventually posited that the void was filled with ether. Max Norman, WSJ, 4 Feb. 2022 Here, the simultaneous transcendence and immanence of God suggests that God cannot be contained in any physical place. Rabbi Avi Weiss, sun-sentinel.com, 31 Jan. 2022 Yet a feeling of immanence, however thwarted, is a near-constant in Schrader’s film. BostonGlobe.com, 2 Sep. 2021 Who but Hemingway would have zeroed in like this? Death—the sight of it, the smell of it, the immanence of it—was his fetish. James Parker, The Atlantic, 2 Apr. 2021 All of it imploding into a sort of hectic immanence, a frantic collapse of timelines. Wired, 27 Nov. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'immanence.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1816, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of immanence was in 1816

Dictionary Entries Near immanence

Cite this Entry

“Immanence.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/immanence. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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