adv · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
General-American:/ˌvɑlənˈtɛɹɪli/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˌvɒlənˈtɛɹɪli/
Received-Pronunciation:/ˈvɒləntɹɪli/
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:V AA2 L AH0 N T EH1 R AH0 L IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adv
Meaning 1
In a voluntary manner.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adverb
Meaning 2
out of your own free will
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
he voluntarily submitted to the fingerprinting
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: involuntarily
History
Etymology
Etymology tree English voluntary Middle English -ly English -ly English voluntarily From voluntary + -ly.
Across languages
Translations
35 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
ինքնակամ
(inkʻnakam)
— in a voluntary manner
Catalan:
voluntàriament
— in a voluntary manner
Chinese Mandarin:
自願 /自愿
(zìyuàn)
— in a voluntary manner
Czech:
dobrovolně
— in a voluntary manner
Dutch:
vrijwillig
— in a voluntary manner
Esperanto:
propravole
— in a voluntary manner
Esperanto:
memvole
— in a voluntary manner
Esperanto:
volonte
— in a voluntary manner
Esperanto:
vole
— in a voluntary manner
Estonian:
vabatahtlikult
— in a voluntary manner
Finnish:
vapaaehtoisesti
— in a voluntary manner
French:
volontairement
— in a voluntary manner
French:
bénévolement
— in a voluntary manner
Galician:
voluntariamente
— in a voluntary manner
German:
freiwillig
— in a voluntary manner
Greek:
εθελοντικά
(ethelontiká)
— in a voluntary manner
Greek:
εκουσίως
(ekousíos)
— in a voluntary manner
Ancient Greek:
ἑκουσίως
(hekousíōs)
— in a voluntary manner
Hungarian:
önként
— in a voluntary manner
Hungarian:
önkéntesen
— in a voluntary manner
Hungarian:
akaratlagosan
— in a voluntary manner
Italian:
volontariamente
— in a voluntary manner
Japanese:
自発的に
(jihatsuteki ni)
— in a voluntary manner
Japanese:
自主的に
(jishutekini)
— in a voluntary manner
Occitan:
volontàriament
— in a voluntary manner
Polish:
dobrowolnie
— in a voluntary manner
Polish:
ochotniczo
— in a voluntary manner
Polish:
niewymuszenie
— in a voluntary manner
Polish:
nieprzymuszenie
— in a voluntary manner
Portuguese:
voluntariamente
— in a voluntary manner
Romanian:
voluntar
— in a voluntary manner
Romanian:
voit
— in a voluntary manner
Russian:
доброво́льно
(dobrovólʹno)
— in a voluntary manner
Spanish:
voluntariamente
— in a voluntary manner
Ukrainian:
доброві́льно
(dobrovílʹno)
— in a voluntary manner