Word of the Day : September 2, 2019

extemporize \ik-STEMP-puh-ryze\ verb

Definition

1 : to do something extemporaneously : improvise; especially : to compose, perform, or speak extemporaneously

2 : to get along in a makeshift manner

Did You Know?

Extemporize means to say or do something on the spur of the moment, an appropriate meaning given the word's history. Extemporize was coined by adding the suffix -ize to Latin ex tempore, meaning "instantaneously" or "on the spur of the moment." Ex tempore, in turn, was formed by combining ex and the noun tempus, meaning "time." Incidentally, ex tempore was also borrowed wholesale into English (where it means "extemporaneously"). Other descendants of Latin ex tempore include the now rare extemporal and extemporary (both synonyms of extemporaneous), and as you have no doubt guessed by now, extemporaneous itself.

Aired September 2, 2019

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