spontaneous

Definition

Self-generated; happening without any apparent external cause.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin spontāneus.

Example Sentences

• "He made a spontaneous offer of help."
• "To make a spontaneous decision"
• "He persisted in his design; and, because he would not make his wants known, actually subsisted for several days on hips, haws and sloes, and other spontaneous fruits which he gathered in the woods and fields."