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Definitions for: Spontaneous
[adj] produced without being planted or without human labor; "wild strawberries"
[adj] said or done without having been planned or written in advance; "he made a few ad-lib remarks"
[adj] happening or arising without apparent external cause; "spontaneous laughter"; "spontaneous combustion"; "a spontaneous abortion"
Webster (1913) Definition: 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.
Synonyms: ad-lib, impulsive, instinctive, intuitive, natural, self-generated, unplanted, unprompted, unscripted, unwritten, wild
Antonyms: induced
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