voluntary

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word voluntary. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word voluntary, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say voluntary in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word voluntary you have here. The definition of the word voluntary will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofvoluntary, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Etymology

From Middle English *voluntarie, from Old French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, of free will”), from voluntās (“will, choice, desire”), from volēns, present participle of volo (“to will”). Displaced native Old English selfwille (literally “self-willed”).

Pronunciation

Adjective

voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

  1. Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.
    • September 10, 1828, Nathaniel William Taylor, Sermon delivered in the Chapel of Yale College
      That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy.
    • 1726, Alexander, transl. Pope, “Book III”, in The Odyssey, translation of original by Homer, line 345; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 540:
      She fell, to lust a voluntary prey.
  2. Done by design or intention; intentional.
    If a man accidentally kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter.
  3. Working or done without payment.
  4. Endowed with the power of willing.
    • 1594, Richard Hooker, “Book 1”, in Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie‎, London: John Walthoe et al, published 1782, page 5:
      […] God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary agent, intending before-hand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him.
  5. Of or relating to voluntarism.
    a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *welh₁-‎ (0 c, 15 e)

Translations

Adverb

voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

  1. (obsolete) Voluntarily.

Noun

voluntary (plural voluntaries)

  1. (music) A short piece of music, often having improvisation, played on a solo instrument.
  2. A volunteer.
  3. A supporter of voluntarism; a voluntarist.
Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia