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voluntarius

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Pronunciation

  • IPA (Classical): [wɔ.ɫʊnˈtaː.ri.ʊs][1]
  • IPA (Ecclesiastical): [vo.lunˈtaː.ri.us][1]

Forms

voluntārius (feminine voluntāria, neuter voluntārium); first/second-declension adjective[1]

Etymology

It is from voluntās “will” with the suffix -ārius.[2][1][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest citation is from the Rhetorica ad Herennium, of actions undertaken voluntarily.[2] Köbler's first source is Cicero; he dates the Rhetorica ad Herennium 86/82 BC.[4]

Semantic evolution

It meant acting of one's own free will, voluntary, often with an adverbial force, as Cicero's auxilia voluntāria “volunteer forces”, and as a noun a soldier serving of his own free will, a volunteer, as in Caesar and Livy.[2][3][5] Of actions and experiences it meant voluntarily undertaken, depending on the will, and in Tacitus accūsātiō voluntāria was a prosecution undertaken for a city by an influential Roman.[2] Varro uses it of arbitrary names.[2] Döderlein explains that sponte refers to the mind of the agent, ultrō to an over-ready action.[6]

In Ecclesiastical Latin it meant voluntary, free, gracious, willing, and voluntāriī volunteers, voluntārium a freewill offering.[7] French volontaire gave English volunteer about 1600, of one who offers himself for military service.[8]

Timeline

  • 86/82 BC – The Rhetorica ad Herennium uses it of voluntary actions.[2][4]
  • 81–43 BC – Cicero uses auxilia voluntāria.[5][4]
  • c. 50 BC – Caesar uses it of volunteers.[2][4]
  • c. 1600 – English volunteer is recorded, through French.[8]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Acting of one's own free will, voluntary; as a noun, a volunteer.[2]
  2. Voluntarily undertaken, depending on the will.[2]
  3. Of names, arbitrary.[2]
  4. (Ecclesiastical Latin) voluntārium, a freewill offering.[7]

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 Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  4. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
  6. ^ Döderlein, Ludwig (1874), Döderlein’s Hand-book of Latin Synonymes, tr. H. H. Arnold, Andover: W. F. Draper
  7. ^ a b Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
  8. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com