voluntary
Appearance
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]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
[edit]- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈvɑ.lənˌtɛɹ.i/
- (Ghana) IPA(key): [voˈlɔn.t̠ɹ̠̊ɹ̩.ri], IPA(key): /ˌvo.lɔnˈtɛ.ri/
- Hyphenation: vol‧un‧ta‧ry
Adjective
[edit]voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)
- 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.
- September 10, 1828, Nathaniel William Taylor, Sermon delivered in the Chapel of Yale College
- Done by design or intention; intentional.
- If a man accidentally kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter.
- Working or done without payment.
- Endowed with the power of willing.
- 1594, Richard Hooker, “Book 1”, in Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie[1], 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.
- Of or relating to voluntarism.
- a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church
Synonyms
[edit]- (acting of one's own free will): discretionary, optional, volitional; See also Thesaurus:optional
- (done by design or intention): intentional, willful, see Thesaurus:intentional
- (done without payment): honorary, pro bono, unpaid, unsalaried, unwaged
- (endowed with the power of willing): autonomous, spontaneous
Antonyms
[edit]- (antonym(s) of “all”): involuntary
- (antonym(s) of “acting of one's own free will”): compulsory, obligatory; See also Thesaurus:compulsory
- (antonym(s) of “done by design or intention”): accidental
- (antonym(s) of “done without payment”): paid, salaried
Derived terms
[edit]Related terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]done, given, or acting of one's own free will
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done by design or intention; intentional
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working or done without payment
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endowed with the power of will
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of or relating to voluntaryism
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Adverb
[edit]voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)
- (obsolete) Voluntarily.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- And all that els was pretious and deare, / The sea unto him voluntary brings [...].
Noun
[edit]voluntary (plural voluntaries)
- (music) A short piece of music, often having improvisation, played on a solo instrument.
- A volunteer.
- A supporter of voluntarism; a voluntarist.
Categories:
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *welh₁-
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English 4-syllable words
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with quotations
- English terms with usage examples
- English adverbs
- English terms with obsolete senses
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Music