different between voluntary vs volunteerism

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

volunteer +? -ism

Noun

volunteerism (countable and uncountable, plural volunteerisms)

1. (US) Reliance on volunteers to perform a social or educational function.
2. The tendency to volunteer; the activity of volunteering.

   His volunteerism eventually burned him out.

Translations

See also

• avocation
• voluntarism