LATIN DICTIONARYLexicon Latīnum
adjectivefirst/second-declension adjective

voluntārius1

voluntārius (feminine voluntāria, neuter voluntārium)
Classical[wɔ.ɫʊnˈtaː.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[vo.lunˈtaː.ri.us]

Meaning

  1. adjectivevoluntary, willing, of one’s own accord or free will, self-imposed
    Dabō cōnsulārem aniculae servientem, dabō ancillulae dīvitem, ostendam nōbilissimōs iuvenēs mancipia pantomīmōrum: nūlla servitūs turpior est quam voluntāria.I will offer [as examples] a man of consular rank serving an old woman, [or] a rich man enslaved to a slave girl, [and] I’ll show you the most noble youths [who are acting as] slaves to pantomime players: no slavery is more shameful than that which is self-imposed.c. 4 BCE – 65 CE, Seneca Minor, Epistulae Morales ad Lucilium 47.17

Latīnē defined in Latin in our graded readers

Choosing the right word Döderlein's Latin Synonyms

Sponte · Ultro · Sua sponte · Voluntate · Libenter

1. Sponte (πόθος) means voluntarily; whereas ultro, in an over-ready manner; so that sponte refers to the mind of the agent, ultro to the thing itself. Liv. x. 19. Orare ne collegæ auxilium, quod acciendum ultro fuerit, sua sponte oblatum sperneretur; and Tac. Hist. iv. 79. Suet. Cæs. 6. Sponte accusare means to accuse of one’s own accord; whereas ultro accusare means to obtrude one’s self into the office of an accuser, when one should be satisfied with not being one’s self accused; according to which, ultro accusavit may be resolved into the complete phrase: Haud contentus non accusari ab altero, ultro etiam progressus est, ut ipse accusaret alterum, or, ultro progressus accusavit alterum. 2. Sponte, from choice, is in opp. to casu, or necessitate, Colum. ii. 1, 13. Plin. Ep. v. 14. Tac. Ann. vi. 23; whereas sua sponte, quite of one’s own accord, like αὐτομάτως, in opp. to rogatus, provocatus, or invitatus. Cæs. B. G. i. 44. Cic. Fam. i. 7. iv. 3. vii. 5. (iii. 103.) 3. Sponte and spontaneus, like ἑκών and ἑκούσιος, paint the voluntary action as an act of the understanding; voluntate and voluntarius, like ἐθελοντής, as an act of the will, in opp. to invite; libenter and libens, like ἄσμενος, as an act of feeling, in opp. to tædio. (iv. 277.)

Declension

singular
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevoluntāriusvoluntāriavoluntārium
genitivevoluntāriīvoluntāriaevoluntāriī
dativevoluntāriōvoluntāriaevoluntāriō
accusativevoluntāriumvoluntāriamvoluntārium
ablativevoluntāriōvoluntāriāvoluntāriō
vocativevoluntārievoluntāriavoluntārium
plural
formmasculinefeminineneuter
nominativevoluntāriīvoluntāriaevoluntāria
genitivevoluntāriōrumvoluntāriārumvoluntāriōrum
dativevoluntāriīsvoluntāriīsvoluntāriīs
accusativevoluntāriōsvoluntāriāsvoluntāria
ablativevoluntāriīsvoluntāriīsvoluntāriīs
vocativevoluntāriīvoluntāriaevoluntāria

Phrases from Meissner's Latin Phrase-Book

evocati, voluntarii (B. G. 5. 56)
the volunteers.

vŏluntārĭus, a, um, adj. voluntas,
I. willing, of his or its own free-will, voluntary.
I. Lit.
A. Adj.: milites, volunteers, Caes. B. C. 3, 91 fin.; Liv. 28, 45, 13: ferocissimus quisque juvenum, id. 1, 59, 5: auxilia, Cic. Fam. 15, 4, 3: servi, id. Rep. 1, 43, 67: procurator, id. Brut. 4, 17: est Asinius quidam, senator voluntarius, lectus ipse a se, id. Phil. 13, 13, 28.—
B. Subst.: vŏluntārĭi, ōrum, m. (milites), volunteers, Caes. B. G. 5, 66; Liv. 1, 30, 7; 5, 16, 5; 25, 19, 13; Capitol. M. Aur. 21; Inscr. Orell. 244 and 512.—
II. Transf., of things: mors, suicide, Cic. Fam. 7, 3, 3: discessus voluntarius sine ullā spe reditus, id. Att. 9, 13, 4: nam hoc ipsum ita justum est, quod recte fit, si est voluntarium, id. Off. 1, 9, 28: verbera, Just. 2, 8, 7: servitus, Tac. G. 24: deditio, id. H. 2, 45: lex, Petr. 107: accusationes, Tac. Or. 41: Junonis transitus in urbem nostram, Val. Max. 1, 8, 35: herba, growing of itself, spontaneous, Plin. 20, 22, 90, § 245.—Adv.: vŏ-luntārĭē, voluntarily, Arn. 2, 74; Hyg. Fab. 41.

Origins

From voluntas (“will”) + -ārius.

Descendants
  • Catalanvoluntari
  • Frenchvolontaire
  • Frenchvolontiers
  • Italianvolontario
  • Occitanvolontari
  • Portuguesevoluntário
  • Romanianvoluntar
  • Spanishvoluntario
  • Galicianvoluntario
  • Albanianvullnetar

In English words that came into English from voluntārius

  • volunteervoluntārius
  • voluntaryvoluntārius
noun · masculinesecond declension
voluntārius2
voluntārius m (genitive voluntāriī or voluntārī)
Classical[wɔ.ɫʊnˈtaː.ri.ʊs]Ecclesiastical[vo.lunˈtaː.ri.us]

Meaning

  1. volunteer

Declension

declension
formsingularplural
nominativevoluntāriusvoluntāriī
genitivevoluntāriī
voluntārī
voluntāriōrum
dativevoluntāriōvoluntāriīs
accusativevoluntāriumvoluntāriōs
ablativevoluntāriōvoluntāriīs
vocativevoluntārievoluntāriī

Origins

From voluntas (“will”) + -ārius.

Quick answers

What does voluntārius mean in Latin?
voluntārius, a adjective, means “voluntary, willing, of one’s own accord or free will, self-imposed”.
How do you pronounce voluntārius?
In classical Latin, [wɔ.ɫʊnˈtaː.ri.ʊs]; in ecclesiastical (church) Latin, [vo.lunˈtaː.ri.us].