voluntary

English

Etymology

From Middle English *voluntarie, from Old French volontaire, from Latin voluntarius ‎(“willing, of free will”), from voluntas ‎(“will, choice, desire”), from volens, present participle of velle ‎(“to will”).

Pronunciation

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Adjective

voluntary ‎(comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

1. Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.
   • N. W. Taylor

     That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy.

   • Alexander Pope

     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.
   • Hooker

     God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary, agent, intending beforehand, 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

The terms below need to be checked and allocated to the definitions (senses) of the headword above. Each term should appear in the sense for which it is appropriate. Use the template {{sense|"gloss"}}, substituting a short version of the definition for "gloss".

• discretionary
• optional
• willful
• volitional

Antonyms

• compulsory
• involuntary
• obligatory

Derived terms

• voluntarily
• voluntary manslaughter

Related terms

• volition
• voluntarism
• voluntarist
• volunteer
• will

Translations

done, given, or acting of one's own free will

• Armenian: կամավոր ‎(kamavor)
• Catalan: voluntari
• Czech: dobrovolný m
• Dutch: vrijwillig (nl)
• Esperanto: volonta
• Finnish: omaehtoinen, vapaaehtoinen (fi), halukas
• French: volontaire (fr)
• Georgian: ნებაყოფლობითი ‎(nebaq̇oplobiti)
• German: freiwillig (de)
• Greek: εκούσιος (el) m ‎(ekoúsios), εθελοντικός (el) m ‎(ethelontikós), προαιρετικός (el) m ‎(proairetikós), εθελούσιος (el) m ‎(etheloúsios)

• Japanese: 志願して ‎(shigan-shite)
• Norman: volontaithe
• Polish: dobrowolny (pl) m
• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Russian: доброво́льный (ru) ‎(dobrovólʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: saor-thoileach
• Slovene: prostovoljen
• Spanish: voluntario (es)
• Telugu: స్వచ్ఛంద (te) ‎(svacchaṃda)

done by design or intention; intentional

• Finnish: tahallinen, suunniteltu

• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Slovene: nameren

working or done without payment

• Czech: dobrovolný m
• Finnish: vapaaehtoinen (fi), vapaaehtois- (in compounds), talkoo-
• French: bénévole (fr)
• German: ohne Bezahlung (without payment), ehrenamtlich (de) (honorary)

• Greek: εθελοντικός (el) m ‎(ethelontikós)
• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: saor-thoileach
• Slovene: prostovoljen, prostovoljski

endowed with the power of will

• Finnish: tahdollinen

of or relating to voluntaryism

• Finnish: vapaaehtois-, vapaa-

• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)

Adverb

voluntary ‎(comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

1. (obsolete) Voluntarily.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:

     And all that els was pretious and deare, / The sea unto him voluntary brings [...].

Noun

voluntary ‎(plural voluntaries)

1. (music) A short piece of music, often having improvisation, played on a solo instrument
2. A volunteer