different between voluntary vs volunteer

English

Etymology

From Middle English *voluntarie, from Old French volontaire, from Latin volunt?rius (“willing, of free will”), from volunt?s (“will, choice, desire”), from vol?ns, present participle of volo (“to will”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?v?.l?n.t?i/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?v?.l?n?t?.?i/
• Hyphenation: vol?un?ta?ry

Adjective

voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

1. Done, given, or acting of one's own free will.
   • September 10, 1828, Nathaniel William Taylor, Sermon delivered in the Chapel of Yale College

     That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy.
2. Done by design or intention; intentional.

   If a man accidentally kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter.

3. Working or done without payment.
4. Endowed with the power of willing.
5. Of or relating to voluntarism.

   a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church

Synonyms

• (acting of one's own free will): discretionary, optional, volitional; See also Thesaurus:optional
• (done by design or intention): intentional, willful
• (done without payment): honorary, pro bono, unpaid, unsalaried, unwaged
• (endowed with the power of willing): autonomous, spontaneous

Antonyms

• (all): involuntary
• (acting of one's own free will): compulsory, obligatory; See also Thesaurus:compulsory
• (done by design or intention): accidental
• (done without payment): paid, salaried

Derived terms

• voluntarily
• voluntary aided school
• voluntary controlled school
• voluntary manslaughter

Related terms

• voluntarism
• voluntarist

Translations

Adverb

voluntary (comparative more voluntary, superlative most voluntary)

1. (obsolete) Voluntarily.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.4:

     And all that els was pretious and deare, / The sea unto him voluntary brings [...].

Noun

voluntary (plural voluntaries)

1. (music) A short piece of music, often having improvisation, played on a solo instrument.
2. A volunteer.
3. A supporter of voluntarism; a voluntarist.

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin volunt?rius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary +? -eer.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /v?l.?n?t??/
• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /v?l.?n?t??/
• Rhymes: -??(?)
• Hyphenation: vol?un?teer

Noun

volunteer (plural volunteers)

1. One who enters into, or offers for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
2. (military) One who enters into military service voluntarily, but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers; -- opposed to conscript; specifically, a voluntary member of the organized militia of a country as distinguished from the standing army.
3. (law) A person who acts out of their own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
4. (botany, agriculture) A plant that grows spontaneously, without being cultivated on purpose; see volunteer plant in Wikipedia.
5. A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.

Related terms

• voluntarism
• voluntarist
• volunteership

Translations

Verb

volunteer (third-person singular simple present volunteers, present participle volunteering, simple past and past participle volunteered)

1. (intransitive) To enlist oneself as a volunteer.
2. (transitive, intransitive) To do or offer to do something voluntarily.

   to volunteer for doing the dishes

3. (transitive) To offer, usually unprompted.

   to volunteer an explanation

4. (intransitive, botany) To grow without human sowing or intentional cultivation.
5. (transitive, informal) To offer the services of (someone else) to do something.

   My sister volunteered me to do the dishes.

Translations

References

• volunteer in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.