immediately

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 即 conveys immediacy; its on-reading is そく.
• Basic usage: 即座 concerns acting immediately, while 即ち introduces a restatement of what came before.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Immediately and namely
  • 即座に means without delay. 即ち means that is or in other words, so distinguish the temporal meaning from the explanatory one.
• Whole-word readings
  • 即ち is read すなわち, while 即座 is read そくざ. The complete words have different readings despite sharing this character.