01 a. Proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or disposition, or from a native internal proneness, readiness, or tendency, without constrai…
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1.
Proceeding from natural feeling, temperament, or disposition, or from a native internal proneness, readiness, or tendency, without constraint; as, a spontaneous gift or proposition.
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2.
Proceeding from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy, or natural law, without external force; as, spontaneous motion; spontaneous growth.
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3.
Produced without being planted, or without human labor; as, a spontaneous growth of wood.“Spontaneous joys, where nature has its play, The soul adopts, and owns their firstborn away.” — Goldsmith.
Phrases & compounds
Spontaneous combustion —
combustion produced in a substance by the evolution of heat through the chemical action of its own elements; as, the spontaneous combustion of waste matter saturated with oil.
Spontaneous generation —
See under Generation.
Syn.
Voluntary; uncompelled; willing.