impromptu - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Borrowed from French impromptu.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɹɒmptju/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ɪmˈpɹɑmpt(j)u/

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

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.

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

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.pʁɔ̃p.ty/

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

1. improvised, not planned

   une visite impromptue. ― an unplanned visit

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.

• “impromptu”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

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

impromptu

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

• “impromptu” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Borrowed from French impromptu.

• IPA^(key): /em.prompˈty/^**[1], /em.prompˈtu/^*[2]
• Rhymes: -u

impromptu m (invariable)

1. (music) impromptu

   Synonym: improvviso

Borrowed from French impromptu.

impromptu n (plural impromptuuri)

1. impromptu

impromptu m (plural impromptus)

1. impromptu

• “impromptu”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10