It's Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for May 7th.
Today's word is extemporize, spelled E-X-T-E-M-P-O-R-I-Z-E.
Extemporize is a verb.
To extemporize means to do something extemporaneously, in other words, to improvise.
Here's the word used in a sentence from the LA Times.
The president was fast on his feet, sensing an opportunity to extemporize.
He looked around the chamber, pleased.
Let's dive into the essence of the word extemporize by exploring its origins.
We'll try not to bore you with too many extraneous details.
To extemporize is to say or do something off the cuff.
Extemporize was coined by adding the suffix I-Z-E to the Latin phrase extempore.
meaning on impulse or on the spur of the moment.
Incidentally,
extempore was also borrowed wholesale into English with the meaning in an extemporaneous manner.
Other descendants of extempore include the now rare extemporal and extemporary,
both synonyms of the word extemporaneous,
and as you have no doubt guessed by now, extemporaneous itself.
With your word of the day, I'm Peter Sokolowski.
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