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Presently vs Momentarily - What's the difference?

presently | momentarily |

As adverbs the difference between presently and momentarily

is that presently is immediately, at once; quickly while momentarily is in a momentary manner; for a moment or instant.

presently

English

Alternative forms

* (archaic)

Adverb

(en adverb)
  • *~1600 , (William Shakespeare), (Hamlet) , Act 3,
  • *:Polonius : My lord, the queen would speak with you, and presently .
  • *(The Bible) : (w) xxi. 19:
  • *:And presently the fig tree withered away.
  • *, Folio Society, 2006, Vol.1, p.219:
  • *:the butler supposing the Wine had beene so carefully commended unto him for the goodnesse of it, imediately presented some unto the Pope, who whilest he was drinking, his sonne came in and never imagining his bottles had beene toucht, tooke the cup and pledged his father, so that the Pope died presently ; and the sonne, after he had long time beene tormented with sicknesse, recovered to another worse fortune.
  • Before long; soon.
  • *1646 , (Thomas Browne), (Pseudodoxia Epidemica) , I.3:
  • *:Itis the greatest example of lenity in our Saviour, when he desired of God forgiveness unto those, who having one day brought him into the City in triumph, did presently after, act all dishonour upon him, and nothing could be heard but, Crucifige , in their Courts.
  • *
  • *:But they had already discovered that he could be bullied, and they had it their own way; and presently Selwyn lay prone upon the nursery floor, impersonating a ladrone while pleasant shivers chased themselves over Drina, whom he was stalking.
  • *1940 , (Raymond Chandler), , Penguin 2010, p.55:
  • *:‘I shall presently be getting a call to tell me of that.’
  • At the present time; now; currently.
  • *Sir (Philip Sidney) (1554-1586)
  • *:The towns and forts you presently have.
  • *1891 , The Welsh Review, No.1 (November 1891). "A Word to the Welsh People." p.1:
  • *:To all of you, therefore, who call Wales your motherland, whether you presently inhabit some other portion of the globe or breathe the air of your cloud-kissed country.
  • *Bishop (Stephen Gardiner) (1483-1555)
  • *:His precious body and blood presently three.
  • Usage notes

    * Some older usage guides, especially for UK English, object to the sense (now), though most major modern dictionaries do not.

    momentarily

    English

    Adverb

    (-)
  • In a momentary manner; for a moment or instant.
  • (US) In a moment or very soon; at any moment.
  • Progressively; moment by moment.
  • Usage notes

    * Many speakers object to the use of momentarily'' in the sense of “''in'' a moment” rather than “''for'' a moment”, since this is inconsistent with the meaning of (momentary);Just a Moment]”, by (William Safire), ''(New York Times),'' May 11, 1997''I Stand Corrected: More on Language,'' by William Safire [http://books.google.com/books?client=iceweasel-a&id=1fuhvj8icSsC&dq=momentarily&q=momentarily
  • search_anchor pp. 137–138, ] nonetheless, this use is quite common in North America, and is particularly associated with airlines, such as “we will be landing momentarily”.On language, by William Safire, 1980, [http://books.google.com/books?client=iceweasel-a&id=mrJZAAAAMAAJ&dq=momentarily&q=momentarily p. 9 In place of ''momentarily , many speakers prefer the terms (presently), (soon) or the phrase “in a moment”, for this sense of “in a moment”.
  • References