extemporal, a. Now rare.
(ɛkˈstɛmpərəl)
[ad. L. extemporāl-is arising out of the moment, f. ex tempore: see extempore. Cf. temporal.]
1. Done, said, or conceived on the spur of the moment; not premeditated or studied beforehand; impromptu; off-hand.
| 1570 Levins Manip. 14 Extemporall extemporalis. 1577 Holinshed Chron. IV. 225 Hir maiesties extemporall oration. 1607 Tourneur Rev. Trag. iii. vi, Aduizing you to..extemporall execution. 1649 Milton Eikon. xxiv. 492 He..makes a difficulty how the people can joyne thir hearts to extemporal prayers. 1753 Adventurer No. 81 An extemporal poem in praise of the city. 1836 J. Keble Sermons viii. Postscript (1848), The light extemporal way in which many reject it. 1857 De Quincey R. Bentley Wks. VII. 114 Bentley sat down and wrote extemporal emendations on three hundred and twenty-three passages in the Fragments. |
† b. Of a person: Speaking, able or given to speak, extempore. Obs.
| 1588 Fraunce Lawiers Log. i. v. 31 b, An affect of an extemporall Rhetor. 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. i. ii. 189 Assist me some extemporall god of Rime. 1596 Edw. III, iv. iv. 60 He cannot pray without the book; I think him no divine extemporal. 1622 Donne Serm. 15 Sept. 67 Those Preachers..are not ignorant, vnlearned, extemporall men. 1636 B. Jonson Discov. Wks. (Rtldg.) 742/1 Many foolish things fall from wise men, if they speak in haste, or be extemporal. |
† c. Of faculty or habit: Pertaining to, or concerned with, extempore speech or action. Obs.
| 1573 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 7 M. Lewins extemporal faculti is better then M. Becons is. a 1605 Stow in D'Israeli Cur. Lit. (1866) 228 He had a wondrous, plentiful, pleasant, extemporal wit. 1624 Wotton Archit. in Reliq. Wotton. (1685) 67 The Judging must flow from an extemporal Habit. 1642 Bp. of Durham Presentment of Schismatic 24 Their extemporall faculty w{supc}{suph} they bragge of. |
† 2. Made for the occasion. Obs.
| 1612–5 Bp. Hall Contempl. O.T. xx. ii, Having now erected an extemporall throne. |
Hence † exˈtemporally adv., in an extemporal manner; impromptu. † exˈtemporalness, the quality of being extemporal; the faculty of speaking extempore.
| 1577 G. Harvey Letter-bk. (Camden) 55 A fewe delicate poeticall devises of Mr. G. H. extemporally written by him. 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 836 She..sings extemporally a wofull dittie. 1656 W. D. tr. Comenius' Gate Lat. Unl. §694 Hee..[is called] Eloquent..especially if hee bee ready even to extemporalness. 1674 A. G. Quest. conc. Oath of Alleg. 31 Any other remedy than what true Reason..will extemporally dictate in such an occasion. |