Wiktionary

improvise

See also: improvisé

English

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Etymology

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From French improviser; ultimately from Latin improvisus.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈɪmpɹəvaɪz/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Verb

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improvise (third-person singular simple present improvises, present participle improvising, simple past and past participle improvised)

  1. To make something up or invent it as one goes on; to proceed guided only by imagination, intuition, and guesswork rather than by a careful plan.
    He had no speech prepared, so he improvised.
    They improvised a simple shelter with branches and the rope they were carrying.
    She improvised a lovely solo.
    • 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Another London Life”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 173:
      We have improvised the most charming party imaginable. The summer has come back by surprise. I own I wonder that June was not tired of us: still here is a day so sunny, that October does not know its own. The Duke of Wharton, Lord Hervey, and some two or three others, have designed a water-party in our honour.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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French

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Pronunciation

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Verb

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improvise

  1. inflection of improviser:
    1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
    2. second-person singular imperative

Galician

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Verb

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improvise

  1. inflection of improvisar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Latin

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Adjective

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imprōvīse

  1. vocative masculine singular of imprōvīsus

References

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  • “improvise”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • improvise in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

Portuguese

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Verb

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improvise

  1. inflection of improvisar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative

Spanish

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Verb

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improvise

  1. inflection of improvisar:
    1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
    2. third-person singular imperative
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