From Latin 'imminēre' (to project over) — the image is something looming overhead about to fall, often confused with 'eminent.'
About to happen; impending; hanging threateningly over one's head.
From Latin imminentem, the present participle of imminēre (to project over, to hang over, to lean toward, to threaten), built from in- (upon, toward) and minēre (to project, to jut out, to protrude). The Latin minēre derives from PIE *men- (to project, to stand out, to be prominent — physically rather than metaphorically). This root also produced Latin mons (mountain, genitive montis — something that juts up), minae (battlements, threatening projections on a wall — later threats), minārī (to threaten, from the same image of something
The easily confused words 'imminent' (about to happen), 'eminent' (prominent, famous), and 'immanent' (inherent, dwelling within) all come from different Latin verbs: 'imminēre' (to hang over), 'ēminēre' (to stand out), and 'immanēre' (to dwell in). They sound alike but describe completely different spatial relationships.