spontaneity

Etymology

Compare French spontanéité.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈspɒn.tə.neɪ.ə.ti/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

Noun

spontaneity (countable and uncountable, plural spontaneities)

1. (uncountable) The quality of being spontaneous.
2. (countable) Spontaneous behaviour.
   • Elizabeth Browning

     Romney Leigh, who lives by diagrams, / And crosses not the spontaneities / Of all his individual, personal life / With formal universals.

3. (biology) The tendency to undergo change, characteristic of both animal and vegetable organisms, and not restrained or checked by the environment.
4. (biology) The tendency to activity of muscular tissue, including the voluntary muscles, when in a state of healthful vigour and refreshment.

Further reading

• 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