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spontaneousness |
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]: spontaneousness n : the quality of being spontaneous and coming from natural feelings without constraint; "the spontaneity of his laughter" [syn: {spontaneity}]
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