adj.
- Done or undertaken of one's own free will: a voluntary decision to leave the job.
- Acting or done willingly and without constraint or expectation of reward: a voluntary hostage; voluntary community work.
- Normally controlled by or subject to individual volition: voluntary muscle contractions.
- Capable of making choices; having the faculty of will.
- Supported by contributions or charitable donations rather than by government appropriations: voluntary hospitals.
- Law.
- Without legal obligation or consideration: a voluntary conveyance of property.
- Done deliberately; intentional: voluntary manslaughter.
- Music.
- A short piece of music, often improvised on a solo instrument, played as an introduction to a larger work.
- A piece for solo organ, often improvised, played before, during, or after a religious service.
- A volunteer.
[Middle English, from Latin voluntārius, from voluntās, choice, from velle, vol-, to wish.]
voluntarily vol'un·tar'i·ly (-târ'ə-lē) adv.voluntariness vol'un·tar'i·ness n.
SYNONYMS voluntary, intentional, deliberate, willful, willing. These adjectives mean being or resulting from one's own free will. Voluntary implies the operation of unforced choice: "Ignorance, when it is voluntary, is criminal" (Samuel Johnson). Intentional applies to something undertaken to further a plan or realize an aim: "I will abstain from all intentional wrongdoing and harm" (Hippocratic Oath). Deliberate stresses premeditation and full awareness of the character and consequences of one's acts: taking deliberate and decisive action. Willful implies deliberate, headstrong persistence in a self-determined course of action: a willful waste of time. Willing suggests ready or cheerful acquiescence in the proposals or requirements of another: "The first requisite of a good citizen ... is that he shall be able and willing to pull his weight" (Theodore Roosevelt).
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
