卽

A compound ideograph composed of:

皀 (고소할 급) — representing a person seated before food, symbolizing nearness or readiness.

卩 (병부절) — a seal, denoting obedience, proximity, or certainty.

The original pictograph depicts a person sitting before food, suggesting closeness or being about to act.

From this, the sense of “immediacy” and “readiness” naturally arose — to be right at something, to be about to do it.

Thus, 卽 literally means “to be near / to approach / to act without delay.”

즉시 (卽時) — at once, immediately

즉석 (卽席) — on the spot, instantly

즉위 (卽位) — to ascend the throne (literally, “take the position”)

즉결 (卽決) — summary decision or immediate judgment

즉사 (卽死) — instant death

The prefix 즉- is productive in Sino-Korean, often marking directness, immediacy, or identity.

In classical writings, 卽 / 即 served as a grammatical pivot linking action and immediacy — conveying that something happens without interval.

Philosophically, it captures the Confucian and Daoist notion of acting in the present moment, responding without hesitation, and recognizing identity between principles (즉 = “is / equals”).

In Buddhist translations, 卽是 (즉시) often appears in expressions like “卽心卽佛” (“the mind itself is Buddha”), emphasizing identity rather than separation — a core concept in Mahāyāna thought.

即