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impromptu

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology

Borrowed from French impromptu.

Pronunciation

Adjective

impromptu (not comparable)

  1. Improvised; without prior preparation, planning or rehearsal.
    Synonyms: extemporaneous, unplanned; see also Thesaurus:impromptu
    The party began with an impromptu rendition of 'Happy Birthday'.
    an impromptu speech

Translations

Noun

impromptu (plural impromptus)

  1. (music) A short musical composition for an informal occasion often with the character of improvisation and usually to be played solo.
    • 1997, Christopher H. Gibbs, The Cambridge Companion to Schubert, Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 168:
      The second impromptu is a dance-like Allegretto in A flat major, with a trio in D flat major employing arpeggiated textures.
  2. (by extension) Any composition, musical or otherwise, that is created on the spot without preparation.

Translations

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French

French Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia fr

Etymology

Univerbation of the Latin adverbial locution in prōmptū (ready, at hand).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ɛ̃.pʁɔ̃p.ty/
  • Audio (France (Lyon)):(file)

Adjective

impromptu (feminine impromptue, masculine plural impromptus, feminine plural impromptues)

  1. improvised, not planned
    une visite impromptue.an unplanned visit

Noun

impromptu m (plural impromptus)

  1. improvised action
    Synonym: improviste
    à l'impromptu(please add an English translation of this usage example)
    • 1868, Sainte-Beuve, Pensées:
      Talleyrand prévoyait à l'avance ses bons mots, que la circonstance lui tirait ensuite à l'impromptu.
      Talleyrand prepared his witticisms in advance, then deployed them spontaneously as the circumstances required.
  2. (music) impromptu
    Synonyms: improvisation, impro
    • 1928, Du Bos, Journal:
      Quand je faisais mentalement des réserves sur Fauré, celles-ci portaient sur les Barcarolles, les Nocturnes et les Impromptus.
      When I had reservations in my mind about Fauré, they concerned his barcarolles, his nocturnes and his impromptus.

Further reading

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Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French impromptu (improvised, not planned; improvised action).

Adjective

impromptu (comparative lebih impromptu, superlative paling impromptu)

  1. improvised, extemporaneous, unplanned: without prior preparation, planning, or rehearsal

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