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voluntary.

Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.

9 characters4 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/General-American, dialectal/ˈvɒl.ən.t(ɛ)ɹi/Canada, dialectal/ˈvɔl.ən.tɹi/Australia
  1. Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.

  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.

    Wikimedia is a voluntary service.
  4. Endowed with the power of willing.

  5. Of or relating to voluntarism.

    a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church
Where this word comes from

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”).

adv/ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/General-American, dialectal/ˈvɒl.ən.t(ɛ)ɹi/Canada, dialectal/ˈvɔl.ən.tɹi/Australia
  1. Voluntarily.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

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”).

noun/ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/Received-Pronunciation/ˈvɑ.lənˌt(ɛ)ɹi/General-American, dialectal/ˈvɒl.ən.t(ɛ)ɹi/Canada, dialectal/ˈvɔl.ən.tɹi/Australia
  1. A short piece of music, often having improvisation, played on a solo instrument.

  2. A volunteer.

  3. A supporter of voluntarism; a voluntarist.

Where this word comes from

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”).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.