See Also: Voluntary(medicine)
VOLUNTARY(law)
voluntary(dictionary)
Voluntary bankruptcy(finance)
Voluntary compliance(finance)
Voluntary liquidation(finance)
Voluntary plan(finance)
Voluntary unemployment(finance)
voluntary 1, adjective(dictionary)
voluntary 2, noun(dictionary)

voluntary (iou)



voluntary adjective, adverb, & noun. LME.
[Partly directly from Latin voluntarius, from voluntas will, partly after Old & mod. French volontaire, voluntaire VOLUNTEER noun: see -ARY1.]
A. adjective.
Of a feeling, sentiment, etc.: arising or developing in the mind without external constraint; purely spontaneous in origin or character. LME.
J. Ruskin Were faith not voluntary, it could not be praised.
Of an action: performed or done of one's own free will, impulse, or choice; not constrained, prompted, or suggested by another. Also more widely, left to choice, not required or imposed, optional. LME.
J. F. Kennedy The essence of a democracy is voluntary action and co-operation. Independent Hand-written records are outside the law and subject only to a new voluntary code.
b. Of an oath, a confession, etc.: voluntarily made or given; not imposed or prompted by a promise or threat. L16.
c. Law. Of a conveyance, a disposition, etc.: made without money or other consideration being given or promised in return. E17.
d. Growing wild or naturally; of spontaneous growth. Cf. VOLUNTEER noun 3, adjective 4. rare. E17-E18.
Physiology. Of a bodily action: subject to or controlled by the will; under conscious control. LME.
b. Of a muscle, etc.: acting or moving in response to the will; directing or controlling voluntary movements. L18.
a. Assumed or adopted by free choice; freely chosen or undertaken; (of work) unpaid. LME.
F. Hoyle We could also choose..activities that exposed us to voluntary dangers. Guardian Dockers made redundant..after their company went into voluntary liquidation.
b. Brought about by one's own choice or deliberate action; self-inflicted, self-induced. M16.
c. Of a society, association, etc.: entered into of free choice. Also, consisting of volunteers. E17.
Done by deliberate intent; designed, intentional. L15.
Of the will: free, unforced, unconstrained. E-M16.
Of a person: acting from personal choice or impulse, willingly, or spontaneously, in a specified capacity. Also, endowed with the faculty of willing. L16.
b. Serving as a volunteer soldier. Also, composed of such volunteers. L16-M17.
Freely or spontaneously bestowed or made; contributed from personal choice or impulse or from generous or charitable motives. L16.
Favourably inclined or disposed (to do something); willing, ready. L16-M18.
Of an institution, organization, etc.: maintained or supported solely or largely by voluntary contributions. Also more widely, existing through voluntary support, not established by statute; spec. in the UK, (of a school) built by a voluntary institution but maintained by a local education authority. M18.
b. Of, pertaining to, or advocating voluntarism in respect of the Church, schools, etc. M19.
Special collocations: Voluntary Aid Detachment (in the UK) an organization of voluntary first-aid and nursing workers, founded in 1909. voluntary patient a person who enters a mental hospital without being committed to it. Voluntary Service Overseas a British organization promoting voluntary work in developing countries. voluntary simplicity a philosophy or way of life that rejects materialism in favour of human and spiritual values, and is characterized by minimal consumption, environmental responsibility, and community cooperation.
b. adverb. = VOLUNTARILY adverb. Now rare. L15.
C. noun.
a. Music added to a piece at the will of the performer. M-L16.
b. An extempore musical performance, esp. as a prelude to more elaborate music. L16.
c. An organ solo played before, during, or after a Church service or other religious or formal ceremony; the music for such a piece. E18.
Free will or choice. Chiefly in of a person's own voluntary, out of a person's own voluntary, at a person's own voluntary, at voluntary. L16-M17.
ellipt. A thing which is voluntary, as a voluntary oath, an extempore or voluntary piece of writing, etc.; in competitions, a special performance left to the performer's choice. Also, a voluntary organization. L16.
A person serving voluntarily, and usually without pay, as a soldier in a campaign, battle, etc.; = VOLUNTEER noun 1. L16-L17.
A person who undertakes or engages in some action, enterprise, etc., of his own choice or free will; = VOLUNTEER noun 2. Now rare. L16.
= VOLUNTARYIST. M19.
A rider's fall from a horse. Esp. in cut a voluntary. colloq. M19.
voluntariness noun E17.