English Online Dictionary. What means volunteer? What does volunteer mean?
English
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌvɒl(ə)nˈtɪə/
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˌvɑlənˈtɪɹ/, /-ˈtɪɚ/
- Rhymes: -ɪə(ɹ)
- Hyphenation: vol‧un‧teer
Noun
volunteer (plural volunteers)
- One who enters into, or offers themselves for, any service of their own free will, especially when done without pay.
- (military) One who enters into military service voluntarily (but who, when in service, is subject to discipline and regulations like other soldiers), as opposed to a conscript.
- (military) A voluntary member of the organized militia of a country, as distinguished from a regular or member of the standing army.
- (law) A person who acts out of their own will without a legal obligation, such as a donor.
- (botany, agriculture) A plant that grows spontaneously, without being cultivated on purpose; see volunteer plant in Wikipedia.
- A native or resident of the American state of Tennessee.
Derived terms
Related terms
- voluntarism
- voluntarist
Translations
Verb
volunteer (third-person singular simple present volunteers, present participle volunteering, simple past and past participle volunteered)
- (intransitive) To enlist oneself as a volunteer.
- (transitive, intransitive) To do or offer to do something voluntarily.
- (transitive) To offer, usually unprompted.
- (transitive, informal) To offer the services of (someone else) to do something.
- (intransitive, botany) To grow without human sowing or intentional cultivation.
Derived terms
- I volunteer as tribute
- volunteering (noun)
- voluntell
Translations
References
- “volunteer”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.