incontinently
1
9.9
Immediately, without delay
- adverb
- /ˌɪnkənˈtɪnəntli/
- Archaic
:
inmediatamente
- She answered the question incontinently, not pausing for a moment.
Examples
-
When I heard the news, I incontinently rushed to my friend to share it.
-
The soldiers were incontinently ordered to retreat as the enemy advanced.
-
Incontinently.
Synonyms
in haste
vsincontinently
19
2.8
Quickly and without careful thought
happens immediately without delay and without implying carelessness
How Quickly
Surface Forms
incontinently positive
Morphology
incontinently = incontinent (opaque) = in + continent + ly
The archaic sense 'immediately' cannot be derived from 'in-' + 'continent' + '-ly' in a straightforward way and represents a historical sense shift.
Etymology
The word incontinently also had an old meaning of 'without delay'. It comes from in- 'not' and the same root as contain 'to hold', so it suggests 'not holding back', which explains doing something right away.