Adjacent Words

Spontaneous definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

SPONTANEOUS, a. [L., of free will.]
1. Voluntary; acting by its own impulse or will without the incitement of any thing external; acting of its own accord; as spontaneous motion.
2. Produced without being planted, or without human labor; as a spontaneous growth of wood.
Spontaneous combustion, a taking fire of itself. Thus oiled canvas, oiled wool, and many other combustible substances, when suffered to remain for some time in a confined state, suddenly take fire, or undergo spontaneous combustion.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: happening or arising without apparent external cause; "spontaneous laughter"; "spontaneous combustion"; "a spontaneous abortion" [syn: spontaneous, self- generated] [ant: induced]
2: said or done without having been planned or written in advance; "he made a few ad-lib remarks" [syn: ad-lib, spontaneous, unwritten]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Etymology: Late Latin spontaneus, from Latin sponte of one's free will, voluntarily Date: 1653 1. proceeding from natural feeling or native tendency without external constraint 2. arising from a momentary impulse 3. controlled and directed internally ; self-acting <spontaneous movement characteristic of living things> 4. produced without being planted or without human labor ; indigenous 5. developing or occurring without apparent external influence, force, cause, or treatment 6. not apparently contrived or manipulated ; natural • spontaneously adverb • spontaneousness noun Synonyms: spontaneous, impulsive, instinctive, automatic, mechanical mean acting or activated without deliberation. spontaneous implies lack of prompting and connotes naturalness <a spontaneous burst of applause>. impulsive implies acting under stress of emotion or spirit of the moment <impulsive acts of violence>. instinctive stresses action involving neither judgment nor will <blinking is an instinctive reaction>. automatic implies action engaging neither the mind nor the emotions and connotes a predictable response <his denial was automatic>. mechanical stresses the lifeless, often perfunctory character of the response <a mechanical teaching method>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. 1 acting or done or occurring without external cause. 2 voluntary, without external incitement (made a spontaneous offer of his services). 3 Biol. (of structural changes in plants and muscular activity esp. in young animals) instinctive, automatic, prompted by no motive. 4 (of bodily movement, literary style, etc.) gracefully natural and unconstrained. 5 (of sudden movement etc.) involuntary, not due to conscious volition. 6 growing naturally without cultivation. Phrases and idioms: spontaneous combustion the ignition of a mineral or vegetable substance (e.g. a heap of rags soaked with oil, a mass of wet coal) from heat engendered within itself, usu. by rapid oxidation. spontaneous generation the supposed production of living from non-living matter as inferred from the appearance of life (due in fact to bacteria etc.) in some infusions; abiogenesis. spontaneous suggestion suggestion from association of ideas without conscious volition. Derivatives: spontaneity n. spontaneously adv. spontaneousness n. Etymology: LL spontaneus f. sponte of one's own accord

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Spontaneous Spon*ta"ne*ous, a. [L. spontaneus, fr. sponte of free will, voluntarily.] 1. Proceding from natural feeling, temperament, or disposition, or from a native internal proneness, readiness, or tendency, without constraint; as, a spontaneous gift or proportion. 2. Proceeding from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy, or natural law, without external force; as, spontaneous motion; spontaneous growth. 3. Produced without being planted, or without human labor; as, a spontaneous growth of wood. Spontaneous combustion, combustion produced in a substance by the evolution of heat through the chemical action of its own elements; as, the spontaneous combustion of waste matter saturated with oil. Spontaneous generation. (Biol.) See under Generation. Syn: Voluntary; uncompelled; willing. Usage: Spontaneous, Voluntary. What is voluntary is the result of a volition, or act of choice; it therefore implies some degree of consideration, and may be the result of mere reason without excited feeling. What is spontaneous springs wholly from feeling, or a sudden impulse which admits of no reflection; as, a spontaneous burst of applause. Hence, the term is also applied to things inanimate when they are produced without the determinate purpose or care of man. ``Abstinence which is but voluntary fasting, and . . . exercise which is but voluntary labor.'' --J. Seed. Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play, The soul adopts, and owns their firstborn away. --Goldsmith. -- Spon*ta"ne*ous*ly, adv. -- Spon*ta"ne*ous*ness, n.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

1. Spontaneous acts are not planned or arranged, but are done because someone suddenly wants to do them. Diana's house was crowded with happy people whose spontaneous outbursts of song were accompanied by lively music... ADJ • spontaneously As soon as the tremor passed, many people spontaneously arose and cheered... ADV: usu ADV with v, also ADV adj 2. A spontaneous event happens because of processes within something rather than being caused by things outside it. I had another spontaneous miscarriage at around the 16th to 18th week. ADJ • spontaneously Usually a woman's breasts produce milk spontaneously after the birth... ADV: ADV after v

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Voluntary, instinctive, uncompelled, unbidden, unconstrained, willing, gratuitous, free, impulsive, self-moving, self-acting, self-existent.

Moby Thesaurus

ad lib, arbitrary, automated, automatic, automatous, autonomous, bat, baton, billy, billy club, bludgeon, casual, club, cybernated, discretional, discretionary, elective, extemporaneous, extempore, free, free will, gratuitous, gut, ill-advised, ill-considered, ill-devised, immediate, impetuous, impromptu, improvised, impulsive, inadvertent, indeliberate, independent, inherent, innate, instinctive, instinctual, involuntary, libidinal, mace, mechanical, natural, nightstick, nonmandatory, off the cuff, offered, offhand, optional, proffered, reflex, reflexive, self-acting, self-active, self-adjusting, self-closing, self-controlled, self-cooking, self-determined, self-determining, self-directed, self-directing, self-dumping, self-governed, self-governing, self-lighting, self-operative, self-regulative, self-starting, self-winding, self-working, semiautomatic, simple, snap, spontoon, spur-of-the-moment, subliminal, truncheon, unadvised, unannounced, unasked, unbesought, unbidden, uncalculated, uncalled-for, uncoerced, uncompelled, unconscious, unconsidered, unconstrained, undeliberate, undeliberated, undesigned, unforced, unguarded, uninfluenced, unintended, unintentional, uninvited, unlearned, unmeditated, unplanned, unpremeditated, unprepared, unpressured, unprompted, unrehearsed, unrequested, unrequired, unsolicited, unsophisticated, unsought, unstudied, unthinking, unwilled, unwitting, voluntary, volunteer, willful