Voluntary
['vɒlənt(ə)rɪ] or ['vɑləntɛri]
Definition
(noun.) composition (often improvised) for a solo instrument (especially solo organ) and not a regular part of a religious service or musical performance.
(adj.) of your own free will or design; done by choice; not forced or compelled; 'man is a voluntary agent'; 'participation was voluntary'; 'voluntary manslaughter'; 'voluntary generosity in times of disaster'; 'voluntary social workers'; 'a voluntary confession' .
(adj.) controlled by individual volition; 'voluntary motions'; 'voluntary muscles' .
Checked by Lanny--From WordNet
Definition
(v. t.) Proceeding from the will; produced in or by an act of choice.
(v. t.) Unconstrained by the interference of another; unimpelled by the influence of another; not prompted or persuaded by another; done of his or its own accord; spontaneous; acting of one's self, or of itself; free.
(v. t.) Done by design or intention; intentional; purposed; intended; not accidental; as, if a man kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter.
(v. t.) Of or pertaining to the will; subject to, or regulated by, the will; as, the voluntary motions of an animal, such as the movements of the leg or arm (in distinction from involuntary motions, such as the movements of the heart); the voluntary muscle fibers, which are the agents in voluntary motion.
(v. t.) Endowed with the power of willing; as, man is a voluntary agent.
(v. t.) Free; without compulsion; according to the will, consent, or agreement, of a party; without consideration; gratuitous; without valuable consideration.
(v. t.) Of or pertaining to voluntaryism; as, a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church.
(n.) One who engages in any affair of his own free will; a volunteer.
(n.) A piece played by a musician, often extemporarily, according to his fancy; specifically, an organ solo played before, during, or after divine service.
(n.) One who advocates voluntaryism.
Checker: Nanette
Synonyms and Synonymous
a. [1]. Spontaneous, free, unforced, unconstrained, without compulsion.[2]. Willing, from inclination.[3]. Designed, intended, intentional, purposed.
Edited by Hugh
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Deliberate, {[spaaimneous]?}, free, intentional, optional, discretional,unconstrained, willing
ANT:compulsory, coercive, necessitated, involuntary
Checked by Janice
Definition
adj. willing: acting by choice: free: proceeding from the will: subject to the will: done by design or without compulsion: of or pertaining to voluntaryism.—n. one who does anything of his own free-will: a piece of music played at will: an upholder of voluntaryism.—adv. Vol′untarily.—ns. Vol′untariness; Vol′untaryism the system of maintaining the Church by voluntary offerings instead of by the aid of the State as alone consistent with true religious liberty involving freedom from State support patronage or control; Vol′untaryist.—adj. Vol′untātive voluntary.—Voluntary school in England one of a number of elementary schools supported by voluntary subscriptions and in many cases controlled by religious bodies.
Inputed by Logan
Examples
- For unions and trusts, sects, clubs and voluntary associations stand for actual needs. Walter Lippmann. A Preface to Politics.
- Our actions are more voluntary than our judgments; but we have not more liberty in the one than in the other. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- The reality of feudalism was its voluntary co-operation. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- I envied no girl her lover, no bride her bridegroom, no wife her husband; I was content with this my voluntary, self-offering friend. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Only about one Martian in a thousand dies of sickness or disease, and possibly about twenty take the voluntary pilgrimage. Edgar Rice Burroughs. A Princess of Mars.
- No word left they of their intentions, but it is always thus with those who go upon the voluntary pilgrimage from which none returns. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It is not a just consequence, that what is voluntary is free. David Hume. A Treatise of Human Nature.
- This semi-mystery of the _parure_ was not solved till two or three days afterwards, when she came to make a voluntary confession. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- Voluntary enlistments had ceased throughout the greater part of the North, and the draft had been resorted to to fill up our ranks. Ulysses S. Grant. Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant.
- He made a complete voluntary confession. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Return of Sherlock Holmes.
- Do not the therns themselves do likewise with the poor creatures who take the voluntary pilgrimage down the River of Mystery? Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- It was known, by the voluntary admission of the owner of the mad-house, that she was received there on the twenty-seventh of July. Wilkie Collins. The Woman in White.
- Some turn off from their voluntary pilgrimage down the Iss, and, scaling the awful walls of its canyon below us, stop in the valley. Edgar Rice Burroughs. The Gods of Mars.
- I did not ask what; I waited voluntary information, which was presently given. Charlotte Bronte. Villette.
- He began speaking of Harriet, and speaking of her with more voluntary praise than Emma had ever heard before. Jane Austen. Emma.
Editor: Melinda