Spontaneous
Spontaneous (spon*tā"ne*us) , adjective
[Latin spontaneus, from sponte of free will, voluntarily.]
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.
2.
Proceeding from, or acting by, internal impulse, energy, or natural law, without external force; as, spontaneous motion; spontaneous growth.
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.
Collocations (2)
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.