| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| voluntary |
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| SYLLABICATION: | vol·un·tar·y |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  v l  n-t r  |
| ADJECTIVE: | 1. Done or undertaken of one's own free will: a voluntary decision to leave the job. 2. Acting or done willingly and without constraint or expectation of reward: a voluntary hostage; voluntary community work. 3. Normally controlled by or subject to individual volition: voluntary muscle contractions. 4. Capable of making choices; having the faculty of will. 5. Supported by contributions or charitable donations rather than by government appropriations: voluntary hospitals. 6. Law a. Without legal obligation or consideration: a voluntary conveyance of property. b. Done deliberately; intentional: voluntary manslaughter. | | NOUN: | Inflected forms: pl. vol·un·tar·ies
1. Music a. A short piece of music, often improvised on a solo instrument, played as an introduction to a larger work. b. A piece for solo organ, often improvised, played before, during, or after a religious service. 2. A volunteer. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Latin volunt rius, from volunts, choice, from velle, vol-, to wish. See wel-1 in Appendix I. | | OTHER FORMS: | volun·tari·ly (-târ-l) —ADVERB
volun·tari·ness —NOUN
| | 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).
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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