volition

Forms

volition f (plural volitions)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin volitio (“act of willing”),^[2][3][1] a learned formation on the stem of Latin voluntas (“will”) or of volō (“I want”).^[2][3][4] The Medieval Latin word is recorded from about 1300.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg note that the less common nolition, formed on Latin nōlō (“I do not want”), is recorded at the same date.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in Jean Michel's Mystère de la Passion (1486), as volicion, “the act by which the will determines itself to something”: la volicion vertueuse “the virtuous volition”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its scholastic sense of an act of the will.^[2][3] About 1527 the Farce des Théologastres mocks such school terms: Nolitïons, volitïons, Qui ne valent pas deux oignons (“nolitions, volitions, not worth two onions”).^[2] In the 17th and 18th centuries it appears in philosophy, with Leibniz (1703) and Condillac,^[7] and later it became mainly a term of psychology.^[3][8]

It gave volitif (1815)^[3] and volitionnel (1872), a rare adjective of psychology.^[2] English volition, recorded from the 1610s, comes from the French word.^[9]

Timeline

• 1486 – Volicion appears in Jean Michel's Mystère de la Passion.^[2][3][6]
• 1526 – The date Bloch and Wartburg give for volition and nolition.^[5]
• c. 1527 – The Farce des Théologastres mocks nolitïons, volitïons.^[2]
• 1610s – English volition is borrowed from French.^[9]
• 1684 – Choisy and Dangeau pair les volontez ou volitions.^[2]
• 1703 – Leibniz uses the word.^[7]
• 1815 – The adjective volitif is recorded.^[3]
• 1872 – Littré records volitionnel.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. (philosophy, psychology) An act of the will, a manifestation of will: acte de volition.^[2][10][11]
2. The will considered as a faculty.^[11]
3. (parapsychology) The exercise of the will in a parapsychological experiment.^[11]

Word family

• volitionnel
• volitif

Related words

• volonté
• vouloir
• nolition
• Latin volō
• English volition

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
7. ^ a b Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
8. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
11. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert