spontaneity
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
Compare French spontanéité.
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
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 1000396166:
- 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.
SynonymsEdit
- (quality of being spontaneous): abruptness, spontaneousness; see also Thesaurus:suddenness
AntonymsEdit
- (quality of being spontaneous): discipline
Related termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
the quality of being spontaneous
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spontaneous behaviour
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.
Translations to be checked
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Further readingEdit
- spontaneity in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- spontaneity in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911.
- spontaneity at OneLook Dictionary Search