Improvisatory

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Pertaining to actions or performances made up on the spot without preparation
2. Connected to spontaneous creation or invention in speech, music, or art
3. Describing something produced without prior planning, relying on immediate creativity

Etymology: The adjective "improvisatory" is built by stacking suffixes onto a much older root. "Improvise" came into English in the 1600s, borrowed from French "improviser", which in turn came from Italian "improvvisare", meaning to compose or recite on the spot without preparation. That Italian verb was itself rooted in Latin "improvisus", "unforeseen", from "in-" (not) and "provisus", the past participle of "providere", to foresee. So the core idea is literally unforeseeing: something that catches you unprepared. The ending "-atory" is a common English adjective suffix, derived from Latin "-atorius", that turns a verb into a description of its character or quality. Attaching it to "improvise" gives a word meaning "tending to improvise" or "characterised by improvisation", used most often for music, theatre and speech that happens without a script. It is a straightforward formation, and the surprise lies mainly in how far the original sense of foresight stays hidden inside it.

Synonyms: spontaneous, unrehearsed, ad-libbed

Antonyms: planned, rehearsed, premeditated