volentieri

Etymology

It is borrowed from Old French volentiers, from Late Latin voluntārie (“of one's own accord, willingly”), the adverb of voluntārius (“voluntary”), from voluntās (“will”).^[2][3][4][1] The OLD records the Latin adverb as “of one's own accord”.^[5] The Old French word continues in French volontiers, and the Latin adverb also gave Friulian vulintir, Old Occitan volenter and Catalan volenter.^[6]

The variant volontieri was reshaped after volontà and volontario.^[7][8] Old forms include Old Italian volentiero in Guittone, Old Italian volontiera and Old Italian volentiere, and there is also Venetian volentiera.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the contrasto of Ciullo d'Alcamo, before 1250, and GRADIT finds the old variant volenteri at the same date.^[3][4] Zingarelli dates it before 1243.^[11] The sense was “willingly, gladly”, which DELI dates in Dante before 1321.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Boccaccio, between 1348 and 1353, uses the word alone as a polite yes, “certainly, with pleasure”.^[3] In old prose it could stand for a whole clause in reported speech, as in the Decameron: “la quale tutta lieta rispose che volentieri” (who, all glad, answered that she would gladly do so).^[12][8] Petrarch writes “E non è cosa / Che sì volentier pensi, e sì sovente” (and there is nothing I think of so gladly and so often).^[13][10]

The variant volontieri was long discussed by purists and is now rare.^[3][11] The phrase spesso e volentieri means “very often”: there volentieri only strengthens spesso, and it can be said of things and of unwelcome events.^[8][12] In the navy the word follows a command and urges that it be carried out quickly and well.^[4][8] Treccani also records the superlative volentierissimo.^[13]

Timeline

• Before 1250 – Ciullo d'Alcamo uses volentieri in his contrasto.^[3]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses it for “willingly, gladly”.^[3]
• 1348–1353 – Boccaccio uses it as a reply, “certainly, with pleasure”.^[3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. willingly, gladly, with pleasure: Ti accompagno volentieri alla stazione.^{[4][12][7][11]}
2. As a polite reply to a request or invitation: yes, with pleasure, often strengthened as ben volentieri or molto volentieri.^[4][7][11]
3. spesso e volentieri: very often, frequently.^[12][11][8]
4. (nautical) After a command, urging that it be done quickly and well.^[4][12][13]
5. (uncommon) Easily, readily.^[14]

Word family

• malvolentieri
• volenteroso
• volonteroso

Related words

• volontà
• volontario
• French volontiers

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ a b c d e Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
9. ^ Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1061
10. ^ a b Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
11. ^ a b c d e Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
12. ^ a b c d e Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
14. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli