volontario

Forms

volontario (feminine volontaria, masculine plural volontari, feminine plural volontarie)^[1]

Etymology

It is learned: it is borrowed from Latin voluntārius (“voluntary”), from voluntās (“will”), the noun of volō (“to want”).^{[2][3][4][5][6]} The Latin adjective is formed from the noun with the suffix -ārius, and is attested in Cicero.^[7][1][8] Devoto explained it from an older Latin *voluntitārius.^[9] DEI compares French volontaire, recorded from the 14th century.^[8]

De Vaan traces the verb to Proto-Italic *wel- and a root Proto-Indo-European *welh₁-, with cognates in Sanskrit, Venetic and Umbrian.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Dante's Convivio (1304–1308), in the sense “born of an act of will, freely and knowingly chosen”: Dante speaks of volontarie operazioni, voluntary actions, in which fairness must be kept.^[2][4][11]

Semantic evolution

The sense “spontaneous, not forced” is in Iacopo Passavanti (1354), who says confession must be volontaria, non costretta.^[2][11] As an adjective and noun for someone who of their own will accepts or does something, it is recorded before 1342 in Domenico Cavalca.^[2][8] Francesco Guicciardini (before 1542) is the first to use the noun for a soldier who serves of his own will, or for one who gives his work without pay.^[2][8][6]

Physiology later spoke of movements and muscles under the control of the will (1961), and the 20th century added volontariato, unpaid voluntary work, a word DEI first finds in military use in 1879.^[2][8] Old Italian also had volontarioso (Cavalca) and volontaroso (Firenzuola), “eager”.^[6]

Timeline

• 1304–1308 – Dante uses volontario in the Convivio.^[2][4]
• Before 1342 – Domenico Cavalca uses it of a person acting of his own will.^[2]
• 1354 – Iacopo Passavanti uses it for “spontaneous”.^[2]
• Before 1542 – Francesco Guicciardini uses the noun for a volunteer soldier.^[2][8]
• 1879 – Volontariato is recorded in military use.^[8]
• 1961 – The physiological sense “under the control of the will” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. voluntary: coming from an act of will, done freely and deliberately, without compulsion: un contributo volontario.^[4][12][1]
2. (physiology) Controlled by the will: muscoli volontari.^[13][14]
3. Of a person: acting by their own choice, especially serving without pay or without being obliged.^[4][12][14]
4. (law) omicidio volontario: intentional homicide;^[13][15] giurisdizione volontaria: non-contentious jurisdiction.^[13][15]

Noun

1. A volunteer: someone who works without pay for a charity or to help in a disaster: i volontari della protezione civile.^[4][15][1]
2. (military) A soldier who has enlisted of his own will.^[4][15][14]
3. (diplomacy) The first grade in the Italian diplomatic career, and the official who holds it.^[16][14]

Word family

• involontario
• volontariamente
• volontariato
• volontarietà
• volontarismo
• volontaristico
• volontarista

Related words

• volontà
• volere
• volenteroso
• Latin voluntārius
• French volontaire

Usage notes

The opposite of the adjective is involontario;^[12][17] Sabatini–Coletti also opposes it to obbligatorio.^[12][17] Morte volontaria is suicide.^[15][13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
3. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
4. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
6. ^ a b c Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 1062
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f g Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 4084
9. ^ Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 21, 997
12. ^ a b c d Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
13. ^ a b c d Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
14. ^ a b c d Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
15. ^ 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
16. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
17. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli