Voluntary Meaning
/ˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjDone, given, or acting of one's own free will.
adjDone by design or intention; intentional.
Sentence Examples
The company appealed for people to take voluntary resignation.
That organization depends on voluntary contributions.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ work at the animal shelter is done by people who want to help.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Joining the local sports club is completely ____, and you can choose whether or not to participate today.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English voluntarie, from Old French volontaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, of free will”), from voluntās (“will, choice, desire”), from volēns, present participle of volo (“to will”). Displaced native Old English selfwille (literally “self-willed”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"She fell, to lust a voluntary prey."
— 1726, Alexander, transl. Pope, “Book III”, in The Odyssey, translation of original by Homer, line 345; republished in The Complete Poetical Works of Alexander Pope, Boston, New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Company, 1902, page 540:
"[…] God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary agent, intending before-hand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him."
— 1594, Richard Hooker, “Book 1”, in Of the Lawes of Ecclesiastical Politie, London: John Walthoe et al, published 1782, page 5:
"And all that els was pretious and deare, / The sea unto him voluntary brings [...]."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The ____ work at the animal shelter is done by people who want to help.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Joining the local sports club is completely ____, and you can choose whether or not to participate today.