2 definitions found
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]:
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.
From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]:
spontaneously
adv 1: in a spontaneous manner; "this shift occurs spontaneously"
2: without advance preparation; "he spoke ad lib" [syn: {ad lib},
{ad libitum}, {impromptu}]
more about spontaneously
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Lake Atitlan, Guatemala
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