presently

presently
/prez"euhnt lee/, adv.
1. in a little while; soon: They will be here presently.
2. at the present time; now: He is presently out of the country.
3. Archaic. immediately.
[1350-1400; ME; see PRESENT1, -LY]
Syn. 1. shortly, forthwith.
Ant. 1. later.
Usage. The two apparently contradictory meanings of PRESENTLY, "in a little while, soon" and "at the present time, now," are both old in the language. In the latter meaning PRESENTLY dates back to the 15th century. It is currently in standard use in all varieties of speech and writing in both Great Britain and the United States. The sense "soon" arose gradually during the 16th century. Strangely, it is the older sense "now" that is sometimes objected to by usage guides. The two senses are rarely if ever confused in actual practice.
PRESENTLY meaning "now" is most often used with the present tense (The professor is presently on sabbatical leave) and PRESENTLY meaning "soon" often with the future tense (The supervisor will be back presently). The semantic development of PRESENTLY parallels that of anon, which first had the meaning, now archaic, of "at once, immediately," but later came to mean "soon."

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • Presently — Pres ent*ly, adv. 1. At present; at this time; now. [Obs.] [1913 Webster] The towns and forts you presently have. Sir P. Sidney. [1913 Webster] 2. At once; without delay; forthwith; also, less definitely, soon; shortly; before long; after a… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • presently — presently, shortly, soon, directly are comparable when they mean after a little while or before long. Presently carries this as its chief meaning; it is a term of rather vague implication as to the time indicated {the doctor will be here… …   New Dictionary of Synonyms

  • presently — There are two meanings which serve well to illustrate the interactions of British and American English. The older meaning ‘at the present time, now’ dates from the 15c and is still the dominant meaning in AmE. In BrE it has been largely overtaken …   Modern English usage

  • presently — index in due course, instantly Burton s Legal Thesaurus. William C. Burton. 2006 …   Law dictionary

  • presently — (adv.) late 14c., immediately, at this time, from PRESENT (Cf. present) (adj.) + LY (Cf. ly) (2). By 1560s it had relaxed into sooner or later …   Etymology dictionary

  • presently — [adv] in a short while anon, before long, before you know it, by and by, directly, down the line*, down the pike*, down the road*, immediately, in a minute, in a moment, in a short time, now, nowadays, pretty soon, shortly, soon, today, without… …   New thesaurus

  • presently — ► ADVERB 1) after a short time; soon. 2) at the present time; now …   English terms dictionary

  • presently — [prez′ənt lē] adv. 1. in a little while; soon 2. at present; now: a usage objected to by some 3. Archaic at once; instantly …   English World dictionary

  • presently — [[t]pre̱z(ə)ntli[/t]] 1) ADV: ADV before v, ADV group If you say that something is presently happening, you mean that it is happening now. She is presently developing a number of projects... The island is presently uninhabited... He is presently… …   English dictionary

  • presently — adverb formal 1 in a short time; soon: The doctor will be here presently. | Presently a bell rang and they all trooped into school. 2 especially AmE and ScotE now; at this time: Scientists are presently working on identifying the cause of the… …   Longman dictionary of contemporary English

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