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improvise

[im-pruh-vahyz]

Origin

Tin Whistle Scale Charts www.flutesjam.com Scales and modes for easy flute fingerings, so you can improvise

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verb (used with object)

to compose and perform or deliver without previous preparation; extemporize: to improvise an acceptance speech.

to compose, play, recite, or sing (verse, music, etc.) on the spur of the moment.

to make, provide, or arrange from whatever materials are readily available: We improvised a dinner from yesterday's leftovers.

verb (used without object)

to compose, utter, execute, or arrange anything extemporaneously: When the actor forgot his lines he had to improvise.

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Improvise is one of our favorite verbs.

So is subtilize. Does it mean:

to introduce subtleties into or argue subtly about.

to expurgate (a written work) by removing or modifying passages considered vulgar or objectionable.

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Origin:
1820–30; < French improviser, or its source, Italian improvisare (later improvvisare), verbal derivative of improviso improvised < Latin imprōvīsus, equivalent to im- im-² + prōvīsus past participle of prōvidēre to see beforehand, prepare, provide for (a future circumstance). See proviso

Related forms

im·pro·vis·er, im·pro·vi·sor, noun

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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To improvise

Collins

World English Dictionary

improvise (ˈɪmprəˌvaɪz)

—vb
1.	to perform or make quickly from materials and sources available, without previous planning
2.	to perform (a poem, play, piece of music, etc), composing as one goes along

[C19: from French, from Italian improvvisare, from Latin imprōvīsus unforeseen, from im- (not) + prōvīsus, from prōvidēre to foresee; see provide]

'improviser

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

improvise

1826, from Fr. improviser (17c.), from It. improvisare "to sing or speak extempore," from improviso, from L. improvisus "unforeseen, unexpected" (see improvisation).

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Related Words

noodle extemporize vamp ad-lib

ad-lib improvisation improvisator

Matching Quote

"Now life is the only art that we are required to practice without preparation, and without being allowed the preliminary trials, the failures and botches, that are essential for the training of a mere beginner. In life, we must begin to give a public performance before we have acquired even a novice's skill; and often our moments of seeming mastery are upset by new demands, for which we have acquired no preparatory facility. Life is a score that we play at sight, not merely before we have divined the intentions of the composer, but even before we have mastered our instruments; even worse, a large part of the score has been only roughly indicated, and we must improvise the music for our particular instrument, over long passages. On these terms, the whole operation seems one of endless difficulty and frustration; and indeed, were it not for the fact that some of the passages have been played so often by our predecessors that, when we come to them, we seem to recall some of the score and can anticipate the natural sequence of the notes, we might often give up in sheer despair. The wonder is not that so much cacophony appears in our actual individual lives, but that there is any appearance of harmony and progression."

-Lewis Mumford

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improvise

im·pro·vise