| immaculate | Without stain or blemish; spotless; undefiled; clear; pure. "Were but my soul as pure From other guilt as that, Heaven did not hold One more immaculate." (Denham) "Thou sheer, immaculate and silver fountain." (Shak) Immaculate conception, the doctrine that the Virgin Mary was conceived without original sin. Immac"ulately, Immac"ulateness. Origin: L. Immaculatus; pref. Im- not + maculatus, p. P. Of maculare to spot, stane, fr. Macula spot. See Mail armor. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
|---|---|
| immalleable | Not maleable. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| immarginate | <botany> Not having a distinctive margin or border. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| immaterialism | 1. The doctrine that immaterial substances or spiritual being exist, or are possible. 2. <philosophy> The doctrine that external bodies may be reduced to mind and ideas in a mind; any doctrine opposed to materialism or phenomenalism, especially. A system that maintains the immateriality of the soul; idealism; esp, Bishop Berkeley's theory of idealism. Origin: Cf. F. Immaterialisme. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| immature | 1. Not mature; unripe; not arrived at perfection of full development; crude; unfinished; as, immature fruit; immature character; immature plans. "An ill-measured and immature counsel." 2. Premature; untimely; too early; as, an immature death. Origin: L. Immaturus; pref. Im- not + maturus mature, ripe. See Mature. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| immature cataract | A stage of partial lens opacification. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immature granulocyte | An immature neutrophil, except that it may be neutrophilic, acidophilic, or basophilic in character. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immaturin | <protein> Soluble protein produced by Paramoecium caudatum that represses its mating activity. (18 Nov 1997) |
| immaturity | The state or quality of being unripe or not fully developed. (18 Nov 1997) |
| immediate | 1. Not separated in respect to place by anything intervening; proximate; close; as, immediate contact. "You are the most immediate to our throne." (Shak) 2. Not deferred by an interval of time; present; instant. "Assemble we immediate council." "Death . . . Not yet inflicted, as he feared, By some immediate stroke." (Milton) 3. Acting with nothing interposed or between, or without the intervention of another object as a cause, means, or agency; acting, perceived, or produced, directly; as, an immediate cause. "The immediate knowledge of the past is therefore impossible." (Sir. W. <surgery> Hamilton) Immediate amputation, an amputation performed within the first few hours after an injury, and before the the effects of the shock have passed away. Synonym: Proximate, close, direct, next. Origin: F. Immediat. See In- not, and Mediate. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| immediate allergy | A type I allergic reaction; so called because in a sensitised subject the reaction becomes evident usually within minutes after contact with the allergen (antigen), reaches its peak within an hour or so, then rapidly recedes. See: immediate reaction, anaphylaxis. Compare: delayed allergy. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immediate amputation | Amputation necessitated by irreparable injury to the limb, performed within twelve hours after the injury. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immediate contagion | Direct contagion occurring as the result of actual contact with the sick. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immediate denture | A complete or partial denture constructed for insertion immediately following the removal of natural teeth. Synonym: immediate insertion denture. (05 Mar 2000) |
| immediate early gene | Class of genes whose expression is low or undetectable in quiescent cells, but whose transcription is activated within minutes after extracellular stimulation such as addition of a growth factor. C fos and c myc proto-oncogenes were among the first IEG's to be identified. Many IEG's encode transcription factors and therefore have a regulatory function. (18 Nov 1997) |