Immillään

Immillään is a Finnish word that functions as an adverb. It generally translates to "in the nick of time," "just in time," or "barely in time." It describes a situation where something happens at the very last possible moment, often with little or no margin to spare.

The word is often used to convey a sense of urgency or a close call. For instance, if someone arrives at a train station and boards the train just as the doors are closing, they arrived immillään. Similarly, if a deadline is met with seconds to spare, the task was completed immillään.

Immillään can also imply a sense of relief that something was achieved or avoided at the last moment. The adverb emphasizes the narrowness of the timing. It suggests that if the event had occurred even slightly later, the outcome would have been significantly different or negative. The precise nuance can sometimes depend on the context of the sentence in which it is used.