volonté

Pronunciation

• IPA: /vɔ.lɔ̃.te/^[1]

Forms

volonté f (plural volontés)^[1] Old French voluntez (about 980), volenté (from about 1130, the usual form until the 16th century); volonté from about 1360 (Froissart), general from Nicot (1606).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It continues Latin voluntātem (“will, wish; goodwill; last will”),^{[5][3][6][7][1]} from volō (“I want”) (see vouloir).^[3][8] The usual Old French form was volenté; the modern form is a remaking after the Latin word.^[6][8] Rey treats the word as a borrowing.^[2]

Compare Italian volontà, Old Occitan voluntat, Spanish voluntad and Portuguese vontade.^[6][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Passion of Clermont (late 10th century) has the plural for passions and desires: Fraindre devem noz voluntez “we must break our wills”.^[5][2]

Semantic evolution

From faire sa volonté “to follow one's whims” (Wace, 1160–74) come faire ses volontés and, much later, faire les quatre volontés de quelqu'un (1904).^[5][2] The Vie de saint Alexis (about 1050) has bone volentet “readiness to do good”, bonne volonté is recorded in 1380 and mauvaise volonté in 1651.^[5][2] The divine will appears in the same text, and Maurice de Sully's sermons (about 1190) translate the Lord's Prayer as soit faite la toie volentés.^[5] À volonté “at will” dates from about 1290, darraine volunté “last will” from 1275 and dernières volontés from 1701.^[2][5]

As a faculty of the mind, the word is used by Montaigne (1580: resoluë volonté) and Pascal, who sets l'entendement et la volonté side by side (1657–58); Montaigne also speaks of la volonté du peuple Romain (1588), and Ribot's Maladies de la volonté (1893) is a work of psychology.^[5]

Timeline

• Late 10th century – Voluntez “desires”, Passion of Clermont.^[5]
• c. 1050 – Bone volentet, Vie de saint Alexis.^[5]
• 1160–74 – Faire ses voluntez, Wace.^[5]
• 1275 – Darraine volunté “last will”.^[5]
• c. 1290 – À volonté.^[2]
• c. 1360 – The form volonté, Froissart.^[4]
• 1580 – Moral energy, Montaigne.^[5]
• 1701 – Dernières volontés.^[5]
• 1904 – Faire les quatre volontés de quelqu'un.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. will, what someone wants: contre sa volonté, que ta volonté soit faite.^[9][1]
2. The faculty of willing; willpower, determination: avoir de la volonté.^[5][9]
3. Bonne volonté, mauvaise volonté: goodwill, readiness or unwillingness to act.^[2][9]
4. Dernières volontés: a person's last wishes.^[2][5]
5. À volonté: at will, as much as one likes, feu à volonté !, fire at will!^[2]
6. (familiar) Faire les quatre volontés de quelqu'un: to give in to all someone's whims.^[9][2]

Word family

• volontaire
• volontiers

Related words

• vouloir
• volontariat
• volition

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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
6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 14, 615a
8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert