voluntary

American  

[vol-uhn-ter-ee] / ˈvɒl ənˌtɛr i /

adjective

1. done, made, brought about, undertaken, etc., of one's own accord or by free choice.

   a voluntary contribution.

   Synonyms:

   designed, intended, planned, purposeful, considered

2. of, relating to, or acting in accord with the will.

   voluntary cooperation.

3. of, relating to, or depending on voluntary action.

   voluntary hospitals.

4. Law.

   1. acting or done without compulsion or obligation.

   2. done by intention, and not by accident.

      voluntary manslaughter.

   3. made without valuable consideration.

      a voluntary settlement.

5. Physiology. subject to or controlled by the will.

6. having the power of willing or choosing.

   a voluntary agent.

7. proceeding from a natural impulse; spontaneous.

   voluntary laughter.

   Synonyms:

   unconstrained, natural, unforced, free

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noun

• voluntaries
  plural

1. something done voluntarily.

2. a piece of music, frequently spontaneous and improvised, performed as a prelude to a larger work, especially a piece of organ music performed before, during, or after an office of the church.

voluntary British  

/ -trɪ, ˈvɒləntərɪ /

adjective

1. performed, undertaken, or brought about by free choice, willingly, or without being asked

   a voluntary donation

2. (of persons) serving or acting in a specified function of one's own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration

   a voluntary social worker

3. done by, composed of, or functioning with the aid of volunteers

   a voluntary association

4. endowed with, exercising, or having the faculty of willing

   a voluntary agent

5. arising from natural impulse; spontaneous

   voluntary laughter

6. law

   1. acting or done without legal obligation, compulsion, or persuasion

   2. made without payment or recompense in any form

      a voluntary conveyance

7. (of the muscles of the limbs, neck, etc) having their action controlled by the will

8. maintained or provided by the voluntary actions or contributions of individuals and not by the state

   voluntary schools

   the voluntary system

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noun

1. music a composition or improvisation, usually for organ, played at the beginning or end of a church service

2. work done without compulsion

3. obsolete a volunteer, esp in an army

Synonym Usage

See deliberate. Voluntary, spontaneous agree in applying to something that is a natural outgrowth or natural expression arising from circumstances and conditions. Voluntary implies having given previous consideration, or having exercised judgment: a voluntary confession; a voluntary movement; The offer was a voluntary one. Something that is spontaneous arises as if by itself from the nature of the circumstances or condition: spontaneous applause, combustion, expression of admiration.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• voluntariness
  noun
• nonvoluntary
  adjective
• semivoluntary
  adjective
• unvoluntary
  adjective
• voluntarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• voluntaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of voluntary

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin voluntārius, equivalent to volunt(ās) “willingness, inclination” (ultimately representing a formation with -tās -ty ² on the present participle of velle “to want, wish”; see will ¹, -ent) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

Voluntary is an adjective that describes something you do because you want to, without being influenced or forced into it. Usually a voluntary act is something you consciously choose to do, like going into work even on a snow day. Voluntary comes from the Latin word voluntarius, which means "of one's free will." Voluntary can also describe a service given without any payment expected in return. For example, if your work for the community theater is voluntary, that means that you don't get paid for your time. If you're offering your voluntary help in this way, you might also be called a volunteer, someone who offers free help to assist others.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

voluntary voluntaries

While the testing is voluntary, industry executives have said it would be risky to bypass the government review, particularly if there were safety concerns raised after the fact.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026

Taylor Farms itself announced a voluntary recall of lettuce sourced from central Mexico.

From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026

Some members of the group known as OPEC+ have been gradually unwinding voluntary production cuts of 1.65 million barrels that were announced in April 2023.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 1, 2026

The German auto group said Thursday that it reached an agreement with labor representatives on an “extensive workforce restructuring program” including voluntary severance packages.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

The mayor instructed the group to “seek the highest possible level of understanding on a totally voluntary basis, acceptable to all parties concerned.”

From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson

Usually these voluntaries were real milk-and-water affairs," he recalled, "but one day the organist did something really wild, which was thrilling.

From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2012

With these voluntaries Alexius opened communications, and was by their aid enabled to get accurate information of all that went on among the Latins.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 06 (From Barbarossa to Dante) by Horne, Charles F. (Charles Francis)

Mr Timson stopped all this with his ten minutes’ law—ample time as he said; and as Jared Pellet never thought of opposing anybody, the voluntaries were reluctantly brought to an end.

From A Little World by Fenn, George Manville

The number of mariners in the saide fleete were above 8000, of slaves 2088, of souldiers 20,000—besides noblemen and gentlemen voluntaries; of great cast pieces, 2600.

From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 10 by Rudd, John

I always tell our organist to play soft voluntaries and pull out his sweetest stops, so that he may make music which will creep into the spirit and rouse all its capacities for worship.

From Glories of Spain by Wood, Charles W. (William)

Related Words

• spontaneous