In an instant, Robin, in whose generous heart the feeling of hate had no place, bounded to his rescue. It also works quite well to describe feats of heroism as demonstrated by these contexts: Now as all creation is immediately by the hand of god soe is it undoubtedly in an instant which is one of the special conditions and properties whereby it is distinguished from generation, the latter requiring time for perfecting thereof, at leastwise in regard of the previous disposition thereunto, though the introduction of the forme bee indeed in an instant, but the former requires no time because it works without all motion or preparative alteration. The phrase is used four times on page 34 and at least twice in this single sentence: The term has been with us since at least the 17th century, as demonstrated by An Apologie of the Power and Providence, which was written by George Hake and published in 1635. Since it is less direct than instantly, instantaneously or immediately, it does have a slightly fanciful connotation to it. Now, perhaps I misunderstood and you only meant that the latter two idioms are not said in English, but you might want to reconsider this form even if you dismissed it. 536Īn instant … is that which takes up the time of only one idea in our minds without succession of another, wherein therefore we perceive no succession at all. This gracious all-commanding beautfy fades in an instant. instant II 2:Ī point in duration a moment very small period or interval of time: as, he will return in an instant See the Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia s.v. This measure of time is indivisible and immediate anyway, so that would not make much sense. We just do not put 'the completion of' in front of it. Nothing comes to mind, though.Īctually, we do idiomatically say 'In an instant' in English. I would like to substitute it with something equally idiomatic, but with a grandiose, majestic, formal and maybe even slightly archaic feeling to it, to reflect the character of the original text, which is carefully composed and somewhat high-flown. However, the expression 'in the blink of an eye' seems a bit colloquial to me, although, I am not a native speaker of English. He killed seven lions in the blink of an eye, by shooting them. Of course, this is not an English idiom, so I have changed it to: Or perhaps 'in the completion of a moment' meaning 'a short interval of time'. He killed seven lions, by shooting, in the completion of an instant. However, this is not a question about Middle Egyptian, but rather English. For those who are curious, here is the hieroglyphic inscription: I am translating from Middle Egyptian to English. Answers without enough detail may be edited or deleted. Want to improve this post? Provide detailed answers to this question, including citations and an explanation of why your answer is correct.

Synonym for in accordance