voluntary

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”).

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

• audio (US)

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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.
   • 1594, Hooker, Richard, “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

• (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

• (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

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

• voluntarism
• voluntarist

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 [...].

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.