volition

American  

[voh-lish-uhn, vuh-] / voʊˈlɪʃ ən, və- /

noun

1. the act of willing, choosing, or resolving; exercise of willing.

   She left of her own volition.

   Synonyms:

   choice, discretion

2. a choice or decision made by the will.

3. the power of willing; will.

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volition British  

/ vəˈlɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of exercising the will

   of one's own volition

2. the faculty or capability of conscious choice, decision, and intention; the will

3. the resulting choice or resolution

4. philosophy an act of will as distinguished from the physical movement it intends to bring about

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Related Words

See will ².

Other Word Forms

• nonvolition noun
• supervolition noun
• volitional adjective
• volitional; adjective
• volitionally adverb
• volitionary adjective

Etymology

Origin of volition

First recorded in 1605–15; from Medieval Latin volitiōn- (stem of volitiō ), equivalent to vol- (variant stem of velle “to want, wish”; will ¹ ) + -itiōn- -ition

Example Sentences

"They have had 15, 20 years in this space to do that of their own volition now, and… it's not enough."

From BBC

Ramaphosa said in a statement that the US had been expected to participate in the G20 meetings, "but unfortunately, it elected not to attend the G20 Leaders Summit in Johannesburg out of its own volition".

From BBC

Whether a person with a major psychiatric disorder can muster the necessary volition to support such an irreversible decision, and whether doctors can reliably determine that a patient’s condition is irremediable, are major question marks.

From The Wall Street Journal

McCain left her job as co-host of “The View” of her own volition after a contentious stint on the daytime talk show.

From Salon

In that case the BBC understands a doctor did return to work under their own volition.

From BBC