spontaneity

English edit

Etymology edit

From Latin spontaneus (“voluntary”). Compare French spontanéité.

Pronunciation edit

(UK) IPA^(key): /ˈspɒn.tə.neɪ.ə.ti/
Audio (UK) (file)

Noun edit

spontaneity (countable and uncountable, plural spontaneities)

(uncountable) The quality of being spontaneous.
(countable) Spontaneous behaviour.
- 1856, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, “Third Book”, in Aurora Leigh, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1857, →OCLC:
  Romney Leigh, who lives by diagrams, / And crosses out the spontaneities / Of all his individual, personal life / With formal universals.
(biology) The tendency to undergo change, characteristic of both animal and vegetable organisms, and not restrained or checked by the environment.
(biology) The tendency to activity of muscular tissue, including the voluntary muscles, when in a state of healthful vigour and refreshment.

Synonyms edit

(quality of being spontaneous): abruptness, spontaneousness; see also Thesaurus:suddenness

Antonyms edit

(antonym(s) of “quality of being spontaneous”): discipline

Related terms edit

spontaneous

Translations edit

the quality of being spontaneous

Asturian: espontaneidá f
Catalan: espontaneïtat (ca) f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 自發性／自发性 (zh) (zìfāxìng)
Czech: spontánnost f
Danish: spontanitet c
Esperanto: spontaneco
Finnish: spontaanisuus (fi)
French: spontanéité (fr) f
Galician: espontaneidade (gl) f
German: Spontaneität (de) f, Spontanität (de) f (rarer)
Greek: αυθορμητισμός (el) m (afthormitismós)
Ido: spontaneso (io)
Italian: spontaneità (it) f
Japanese: 自発性 (じはつせい, jihatsusei)
Korean: 자발성 (ko) (jabalseong)
Latin: spontāneitās f
Norwegian:
Bokmål: spontanitet m

Nynorsk: spontanitet m
Polish: spontaniczność (pl) f
Portuguese: espontaneidade (pt) f
Romanian: spontaneitate (ro) f
Russian: спонта́нность (ru) f (spontánnostʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: spȍntānōst (sh) f, спо̏нта̄но̄ст f
Spanish: espontaneidad (es) f
Swedish: spontanitet (sv)
Volapük: libavil (vo)

spontaneous behaviour

Bulgarian: спонта́нност f (spontánnost)
Czech: spontánnost f
German: Laune (de) f
Greek: αυθορμητισμός (el) m (afthormitismós)
Hungarian: spontaneitás (hu)
Russian: спонта́нность (ru) f (spontánnostʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: spȍntānōst (sh) f, спо̏нта̄но̄ст f

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Italian: ^{(please verify)} Spontaneità f