Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • In a spontaneous manner; with spontaneity.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adverb In a spontaneous manner; naturally; voluntarily.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adverb in a spontaneous manner
  • adverb without advance preparation

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

spontaneous +‎ -ly

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Examples

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  • “Other insects are not derived from living parentage, but are generated spontaneously: some out of dew falling on leaves, ordinarily in spring-time, but not seldom in winter when there has been a stretch of fair weather and southerly winds; others grow in decaying mud or dung; others in timber, green or dry; some in the hair of animals; some in the flesh of animals; some in excrements: and some from excrement after it has been voided, and some from excrement yet within the living animal, like the helminthes or intestinal worms.” --from the Wordnik examples

    October 1, 2011