forthwith

Without delay; immediately.

Adverb

  1. Without delay; immediately.
    • Neyther euery thynge, whiche ony maner way is bredde or gendred of man: is forthwith a man (for els lyſe ſholde be called men) But that thynge, whiche is conceyued in the matrice or wombe of a woman, of the very...
    • Let ther be Light, ſaid God, and forthwith Light, / Ethereal, firſt of things, quinteſſence pure, / Sprung from the Deep, [...] - 1667, John Milton, “Book VII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and...
    • Then Proclamation was made, that they that had ought to ſay for their Lord the King againſt the Priſoner at the Bar, ſhould forthwith appear and give in their evidence. - 1678, John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress from...

    Synonyms: forthwithal anoon ASAP at once by and by directly forthwith incontinently instanter instantly no sooner said than done now on the nail on the spot on the spur of the moment pronto right away right now right off soon stat straightaway this instant toot sweet

Origin

From Middle English forth-with (“at once, immediately; at the same time, already; straight ahead”) [and other forms], partly from the phrase forth with (something), and partly from forth-with-al, furth-with-al (“at once, immediately; together with”) (whence forthwithal).