| 释义 |
impromptu, adv., n., a.|ɪmˈprɒm(p)tjuː|
[ad. L. in promptū in readiness, at hand (promptus readiness), written as one word and with the n changed to m before p, as in F. impromptu (Molière, 1659), whence also the adj. and n. uses.]
A. adv. Without preparation or premeditation; off-hand, on the spur of the moment; extempore.
1669Lady Chaworth in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 11 Mr. Elliot..desired Mr. Titus to make some verses..which he did thus, impromptu [etc.]. 1788Burns Let. to Mrs. Dunlop 16 Aug., She sometimes hits on a couplet or two impromptu. 1791Boswell Johnson (1816) I. 31 note, This was made almost impromptu. 1882Farrar Early Chr. II. 375 note, This was afterwards improved into the story that he [John] wrote the whole Gospel impromptu.
B. n. Something composed or uttered without preparation or premeditation; an extemporaneous composition or performance; an improvisation. Also, a musical composition having the character of an improvisation.
1683D. A. Art Converse 44 We must deal plainly and seriously with such men, waving all in promptu's and subtilities. 1693Dryden Juvenal Introd. (1697) 37 They were made extempore, and were, as the French call them, Impromptus. 1776Johnson Poem (title), To Mrs. Thrale, on her completing her thirty-fifth year, an impromptu. 1847Disraeli Tancred ii. ix, Lady Constance..had a variety of conclusions on all social topics, which she threw forth..with the well-arranged air of an impromptu. 1880Grove Dict. Mus. I. 768/2 The two sets of pieces by Schubert known as Impromptus..were..not so entitled by him.
C. adj.
1. Composed or uttered without preparation or premeditation; improvised; invented, produced, etc. on the spur of the moment and without previous thought.
1789Mrs. Piozzi Journ. France I. 240 Who would risque the making impromptu poems at Paris? 1830D'Israeli Chas. I, III. Pref. 4, I am not fortunate in impromptu replies. 1849Thackeray Lett. Apr., I daresay I shall have to make an impromptu speech.
2. Made or done on the spur of the moment; hastily made for the occasion, or converted to use in an emergency; extemporized, makeshift.
1764Mrs. Harris in Priv. Lett. Ld. Malmesbury I. 118 Lord North took an impromptu dinner with us yesterday. 1800E. Hervey Mourtray Fam. I. 67 They had a little impromptu ball. 1856Miss Mulock J. Halifax xxii. (1865) 215 My daughter encouraged me to pay this impromptu visit. 1872Baker Nile Tribut. viii. 128 We prepared an impromptu raft.
Hence imˈpromptu v., to compose off-hand; to improvise, extemporize. imˈpromptuary a. = C. 1. imˈpromptuist, one who composes off-hand, an improviser.
1802H. Swinburne in Courts Europe (1841) II. 334 The soldiers sing in the evening an endless German song, and the sailors impromptu in Danish. 1802–12Bentham Ration. Judic. Evid. (1827) II. 2 Answers impromptuary. 1834Medwin Angler in Wales I. 48 In a pelting rain, impromptu'd the following epigram. 1848Athenæum 5 Aug. 773 Ballast-waggons..impromptued and filled up with seats. 1882Chamb. Jrnl. 742/2 Theodore Hook..was a most prolific impromptuist. 1897F. Hall in Nation (N.Y.) LXIV. 435/1 His impromptuary deliverances. |