voluntary

English

Etymology

(deprecated template usage)

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”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvɒ.lən.tɹi/
• IPA^(key): /ˈvɑ.lənˌtɛ.ɹi/

• audio (US):

  (file)

Adjective

voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

1. Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.
   • (Can we date this quote by N. W. Taylor and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     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^[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.

5. Of or relating to voluntarism.

   a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church

Synonyms

• (acting of one's own free will): discretionary, optional, volitional; See also Thesaurus:optional
• (done by design or intention): intentional, willful
• (done without payment): honorary, pro bono, unpaid, unsalaried, unwaged
• (endowed with the power of willing): autonomous, spontaneous

Antonyms

• (all): involuntary
• (acting of one's own free will): compulsory, obligatory; See also Thesaurus:compulsory
• (done by design or intention): accidental
• (done without payment): paid, salaried

Derived terms

• voluntarily
• voluntary aided school
• voluntary controlled school
• voluntary manslaughter

Related terms

• voluntarism
• voluntarist

Translations

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

• Armenian: կամավոր (hy) (kamavor)
• Azerbaijani: könüllü (az)
• Catalan: voluntari (ca)
• Czech: dobrovolný (cs) m
• Dutch: vrijwillig (nl)
• Esperanto: volonta
• Finnish: omaehtoinen, vapaaehtoinen (fi), halukas (fi)
• 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)

  Ancient: ἑκούσιος (hekoúsios)

• Hungarian: önkéntes (hu)
• Ido: volunta, voluntala (io), voluntanta
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: spontaneo (it), volontario (it), di propria iniziativa
• Japanese: 志願して (shigan-shite)
• Kurdish:
• Norman: volontaithe
• Polish: dobrowolny (pl) m
• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Russian: доброво́льный (ru) (dobrovólʹnyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: saor-thoileach
• Slovene: prostovoljen
• Spanish: voluntario (es)
• Swedish: frivillig (sv)
• Tagalog: pakusa
• Telugu: స్వచ్ఛంద (te) (svacchanda)
• Ukrainian: доброві́льний (dobrovílʹnyj)

done by design or intention; intentional

• Finnish: tahallinen (fi), suunniteltu (fi)
• Georgian: განზრახული (ganzraxuli), თვითნებური (tvitneburi), შეგნებული (šegnebuli)
• Hungarian: szándékos (hu), akaratlagos
• Italian: intenzionale (it), deliberato (it), voluto (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Slovene: nameren

working or done without payment

• Czech: dobrovolný (cs) m
• Finnish: vapaaehtoinen (fi), vapaaehtois- (in compounds), talkoo-
• French: bénévole (fr)
• Georgian: მოხალისეობრივი (moxaliseobrivi)
• German: ohne Bezahlung (without payment), ehrenamtlich (de) (honorary)
• Greek: εθελοντικός (el) m (ethelontikós)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: önkéntes (hu), fizetés nélküli, fizetetlen (hu)
• Italian: volontario (it), gratuito (it)
• Portuguese: voluntário (pt)
• Scottish Gaelic: saor-thoileach
• Slovene: prostovoljen, prostovoljski

endowed with the power of will

• Finnish: tahdollinen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

of or relating to voluntaryism

• Finnish: vapaaehtois- (fi), vapaa- (fi)
• Italian: volenteroso (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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.
3. A supporter of voluntarism; a voluntarist.