improvision

English

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌɪm.pɹəˈvɪʒ.ən/

Etymology 1

From im- +‎ provision.

Noun

improvision (plural improvisions)

1. (obsolete) The lack of provision, a failure to provide something.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, III.2:

     there would be a main defect, and her improvision justly accusable, if such a feeding animal [...] should want a proper conveyance for choler, or have no other receptacle for that humour than the veins and general mass of blood.

Etymology 2

From improvise +‎ -ion.

Noun

improvision (plural improvisions)

1. The act of improvising, or something improvised; improvisation
   • 1948 October 1948, Alexander Maxwell, “Gauges—the Guide to Perfection”, Popular Mechanics, volume 90, number 4, Hearst Magazines, ISSN 0032-4558, page 250: 

     A similar improvision, a modification of the device used to measure the planar ways (photo 8), makes several measurements at once.

   • 1987, John Davis, “The Libyan Contribution”, in Libyan Politics: Tribe and Revolution: An Account of the Zuwaya and their Government^[1], University of California Press, ISBN 9780520062948, published 1988, page 248:

     It was a revolution grounded in exoterics, which may account in some part for the general air of naivety and improvision which surrounds it.

   • 1991, Martine Millon and Oliver Ortolanai quoting Yoshi Oida, “Energy and the Ensemble: Actors' Perspectives”, in David Williams editor, Peter Brook and the Mahabharata: Critical Perspectives^[2], Part II Practitioners' accounts, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 9780415047784, page 108:

     There are two general conceptions of improvision. The first, commonly applied is of a rather romantic woolly kind. It suggests that anything can happen in improvisation.

   • 2005, Daniel Gilbert Perret, Roots of Musicality: Music Therapy and Personal Development^[3], Jessica Kingsley Publishers, ISBN 9781843103363, Appendix 7: Improvisation Techniques in Music Therapy, page 177:

     Tonal centring: Providing a tonal centre, scale, or harmonic ground as a base for the client's improvision