extempore
pronunciation
How to pronounce extempore in British English:
UK [ekˈstempəri]
How to pronounce extempore in American English:
US [ɪkˈstɛmpəri]
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- Adjective:
- with little or no preparation or forethought
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- Adverb:
- without prior preparation
Word Origin
- extempore
- extempore: [16] An extempore speech is one that is given literally ‘out of time’ – that is, ‘on the spur of the moment’. That was the meaning of the Latin phrase extempore (ex ‘out of’ and tempore, the ablative case of tempus ‘time’), which was the source of the Latin adjectives extemporālis and extemporāneus. Both of these were acquired by English, as extemporal [16] and extemporaneous [17], but only the latter has survived. Ex tempore itself was first lexicalized in English as an adverb, and was not used as an adjective until the 17th century.
- extempore (adv.)
- 1550s, from Latin phrase ex tempore "offhand, in accordance with (the needs of) the moment," literally "out of time," from ex "out of" (see ex-) + tempore, ablative of tempus (genitive temporis) "time" (see temporal). Of speaking, strictly "without preparation, without time to prepare," but now often with a sense merely of "without notes or a teleprompter." As an adjective and noun from 1630s.
Example
- 1. At the audition , the actors were asked to perform extempore .
- 2. If any of the witnesses cannot be present in person , the investigators , the parties concerned and the third parties may submit the testimonies of the witnesses which shall be read extempore .
- 3. When he was a boy at drayton manor , his father was accustomed to set him up at table to practice speaking extempore and he early accustomed him to repeat as much of the sunday 's sermon as he could remember .
- 4. The song was composed extempore .