VOL'UNTARY, a. [L. voluntarius, from voluntas, will, from volo.]

1. [Fr. volontaire; L. voluntarius, from voluntas, will, from volo. Voluntary is applicable only to beings that have will; spontaneous is applicable to physical causes, as well as to the will of an agent.
2. Acting by choice or spontaneously; acting without being influenced or impelled by another.
3. Free, or having power to act by choice; not being under restraint; as, man is a voluntary agent. – Hooker.
4. Proceeding from choice or free will. That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action, is the true principle of orthodoxy. – N. W. Taylor.
5. Willing; acting with willingness. She fell to lust a voluntary prey. – Pope.
6. Done by design; purposed; intended. If a man kills another by lopping a tree, here is a no voluntary murder.
7. Done freely, or of choice; proceeding from free will. He went into voluntary exile. He made a voluntary surrender.
8. Acting of his own accord; spontaneous; as, the voluntary dictates of knowledge.
9. Subject to the will; as, the voluntary motions of an animal. Thus the motion of a leg or an arm is voluntary, but the motion of the heart is involuntary. A voluntary escape, in law, is the escape of a prisoner by the express consent of the sherif. Voluntary jurisdiction, is that which is exercised in doing that which no one opposes; as in granting dispensations, &c. Voluntary affidavit or oath, is one made in an extra-judicial matter. Voluntary waste, is that which is committed by positive acts.

1. One who engages in any affair of his own free will; a volunteer. [In this sense, volunteer is now generally used.]
2. In music, a piece played by a musician extemporarily, according to his fancy. In the Philosophical Transactions, we have a method of writing voluntaries, as fast as the musician plays the notes. This is by a cylinder turtling under the keys of the organ. – Cyc.
3. A composition for the organ.

1. Proceeding from the will; produced in or by an act of choice.
   
   

   That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy. N. W. Taylor.

2. One who engages in any affair of his own free will; a volunteer.
   
   
   [R.] Shak.
3. 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.
   
   

   Our voluntary service he requires. Milton.

   She fell to lust a voluntary prey. Pope.

4. A piece played by a musician, often extemporarily, according to his fancy; specifically, an organ solo played before, during, or after divine service.
5. 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.
6. One who advocates voluntaryism.
7. 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.
8. Endowed with the power of willing; as, man is a voluntary agent.
   
   

   God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary, agent, intending beforehand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him. Hooker.

9. Free; without compulsion; according to the will, consent, or agreement, of a party; without consideration; gratuitous; without valuable consideration.
10. Of or pertaining to voluntaryism; as, a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church.
    
    

    Voluntary affidavit or oath (Law), an affidavit or oath made in extrajudicial matter. - - Voluntary conveyance (Law), a conveyance without valuable consideration. -- Voluntary escape (Law), the escape of a prisoner by the express consent of the sheriff. -- Voluntary jurisdiction. (Eng. Eccl. Law) See Contentious jurisdiction, under Contentious. -- Voluntary waste. (Law) See Waste, n., 4.

    Syn. -- See Spontaneous.