noun · femininethird declension
spōns
spōns f sg (genitive spontis)
Classical[ˈspõːs]Ecclesiastical[ˈspɔns]
Meaning
- free will, free accord, free impulse, voluntary or spontaneous action
Quid est, Catilīna? Num dubitās — id mē imperante — facere quod iam, tuā sponte, faciēbās?
What is it, Catiline? Surely you do not hesitate — with me commanding it — to do that which already, by your [own] accord, you were doing?63 BCE, Cicero, In Catilinam orationes 1.13Mē sī fāta meīs paterentur dūcere vītam auspiciīs et sponte meā compōnere cūrās, [...].
“If the Fates had let me live a life with my choices, and to order cares by my [own] free will, …”29 BCE – 19 BCE, Vergilius, Aeneis 4.340–341
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | spōns | — |
| genitive | spontis | — |
| dative | spontī | — |
| accusative | spontem | — |
| ablative | sponte | — |
| vocative | spōns | — |
spons, v. sponte.
Charlton Lewis's shorter dictionary for students: the same scholarship in plain, modern definitions.
(spōns, spontis) f
cf. spondeo, free will, accord, impulse, motion .—Only abl sing ., usu. with pron poss., of one's own accord, freely, willingly, voluntarily : Suā sponte recte facere, of his own accord , T.: tuā sponte facere, voluntarily : Gallia ipsa suā sponte excitata, of its own motion : transisse Rhenum sese non suā sponte, sed rogatum et accersitum a Gallis, Cs.: sponte meā componere curas, V.: Italiam non sponte sequor, of my own will , V.: Sponte properant, O.: equus sponte genua submittens, Cu.: magis popularium quam suā sponte, Cu.— By oneself, without aid, alone : nec suā sponte, sed eorum auxilio: cum oppidani suā sponte Caesarem recipere conarentur, Cs.: iudicium quod Verres suā sponte instituisset, i. e. without precedent : neque id solum meā sponte (prospexi), i. e. by my own foresight .—Of things, with suā, of itself, spontaneously : is autem ardor non alieno impulsu sed suā sponte movetur, etc.: Stellae sponte suā iussaene vagentur et errent, H.: sapientem suā sponte ac per se bonitas et iustitia delectat: ex loco superiore, qui prope suā sponte in hostem inferebat, L.: Te Sponte suā probitas officiumque iuvat, O.—Without suā (poet.): Sponte deae munus promeritumque patet (i. e. sine indice), O.
Origins
Of uncertain origin. De Vaan is skeptical of connections to Proto-Indo-European *(s)penh₁- (“to spin, weave”) due to semantic vagueness and leaves the origin open, while older theories have connected the word with spondeō (“to promise, guarantee”) (thus a pledging of oneself to a thing; hence, opp. to external necessity or inducement, of free will, of one's own accord); the latter theory appears more semantically reasonable.