It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 2nd.
Today's word is extemporaneous, spelled E-X-T-E-M-P-O-R-A-N-E-O-U-S.
Extemporaneous is an adjective.
It describes something that is made up or done without special preparation.
It's usually used to describe public speaking.
Here's the word used in a sentence from Vulture.
The show, Shogun, lovingly conveys all the details of court society.
The no performance by torchlight, the extemporaneous verse,
the calligraphic stroke falling on a blank sheet of paper.
extemporaneous, which comes from the Latin phrase extempore, meaning on the spur of the moment,
joined the English language sometime in the mid 17th century.
The word impromptu, also from a Latin phrase in promptu, meaning in readiness, soon followed.
In general usage,
extemporaneous and impromptu are used interchangeably to describe off-the-cuff remarks or speeches,
but this is not the case when they are used in reference to the learned art of public speaking.
Teachers of speech will tell you that an extemporaneous speech is one that has been thoroughly prepared and planned,
but not memorized,
whereas an impromptu speech is one for which absolutely no preparations have been made.
With your Word of the Day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.