spontaneous

English

Etymology

Late Latin spontāneus, from Latin sponte (suā) (of one's free will, voluntarily).

Pronunciation

  • (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /spɒnˈteɪ.ni.əs/
  • (US) IPA(key): /spɑnˈteɪ.ni.əs/
  • Rhymes: -eɪniəs
  • (file)

Adjective

spontaneous (comparative more spontaneous, superlative most spontaneous)

  1. Self-generated; happening without any apparent external cause.
    He made a spontaneous offer of help.
  2. Done by one's own free choice, or without planning.
  3. Proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external or conscious constraint
  4. Arising from a momentary impulse
  5. Controlled and directed internally; self-active; spontaneous movement characteristic of living things
  6. Produced without being planted or without human labor; indigenous
    a spontaneous growth of wood
  7. Random.
  8. Sudden, without warning.

Synonyms

Derived terms

Translations

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