a piece of music, frequently spontaneous and improvised, performed as a prelude to a larger work, especially a piece of organ music performed before, during, or after an office of the church.

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Voluntary is always a great word to know.

So is malpractice. Does it mean:

to institute legal proceedings against a person; to seek to enforce or obtain by legal process; to conduct criminal proceedings in court against

failure of a professional person, as a physician or lawyer, to render proper services through reprehensible ignorance or negligence

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Origin:
1350–1400; Middle English < Latin voluntārius, equivalent to volunt(ās) willingness, inclination (ultimately representing a formation with -tās -ty² on the present participle of velle to want, wish; see will¹, -ent) + -ārius -ary

Related forms

vol·un·tar·i·ly

[vol-uhn-tair-uh-lee, vol-uhn-ter-] , adverb

vol·un·tar·i·ness, noun

non·vol·un·tar·y, adjective

sem·i·vol·un·tar·y, adjective

un·vol·un·tar·i·ly, adverb

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un·vol·un·tar·y, adjective

COLLAPSE

Synonyms
1. considered, purposeful, planned, intended, designed. See deliberate. 7. free, unforced, natural, unconstrained. Voluntary, spontaneous agree in applying to something that is a natural outgrowth or natural expression arising from circumstances and conditions. Voluntary implies having given previous consideration, or having exercised judgment: a voluntary confession; a voluntary movement; The offer was a voluntary one. Something that is spontaneous arises as if by itself from the nature of the circumstances or condition: spontaneous applause, combustion, expression of admiration.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Link To Voluntary

Example Sentences

McDermott's hospitalizations were voluntary or involuntary.

The voluntary accreditation program is another step in the increasing professionalization of those agencies, experts.

And best not to depend, either, on suggestions from the wilder fringe that voluntary euthanasia may solve the problem.

EXPAND

McDermott's hospitalizations were voluntary or involuntary.

The voluntary accreditation program is another step in the increasing professionalization of those agencies, experts.

And best not to depend, either, on suggestions from the wilder fringe that voluntary euthanasia may solve the problem.

These agreements encourage landowners to take voluntary steps towards restoring and maintaining the habitat of rare species.

It originally stated that the mice had regained voluntary movement.

Their actions seemed to involved less voluntary control than the control group's.

Many of the cuts came from voluntary reductions in pay and benefits as the economy whittled away at campus budgets.

At a pragmatic level, you can't run government functions on voluntary donations because voluntary donations aren't sustainable.

Participation in the project is of course purely voluntary.

Prior to voluntary behavior lies a conscious intention.

It's that odd bit of hand-holding that is totally voluntary.

The voluntary program is another step in the increasing professionalization of those agencies, experts say.

Blood donors are stalwarts of the voluntary sector, and rich countries with advanced medical systems rely on them.

Anthropologists believe these indigenous people are living in voluntary isolation from the rest of the world.

Voluntary agreement enables rating of hydroelectric impacts.

Others have questioned whether voluntary measures are enough to protect homeland security.

Midterm student surveys, in contrast, are completely voluntary.

Few distinguish between a system of quotas and a voluntary approach that relies on peer pressure and self-interest.

In the drilling safety rule, the government sought to codify some of the voluntary industry standards that already existed.

Phobias, panic attacks and obsessions are caused by intrusions of the hidden drives into voluntary behavior.

It attacks the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, affecting the neurons that control voluntary muscle movement.

These organizations cannot function without the voluntary time that people all over put into their work.

Membership of a pension plan can be mandatory or voluntary.

Paducah also is cited as one of the best examples of voluntary retrofitting.

We have voluntary control over our breathing, which is unique among apes, and a necessity for speech.

Previously approved vacation will be allowed where voluntary rescheduling is not feasible.

So a state-run but voluntary body was set up to market their crops collectively and get better prices.

The standards are worthy but have one problem: as they stand, they would be voluntary.

Voluntary individual pensions are spreading around the developed world.

The blowhole is a flap of skin that is thought to open and close under the voluntary control of the animal.

It has no mandatory scheme, but many companies are participating in a voluntary one.

Most buyers are organisations that are offsetting emissions on a purely voluntary basis.

It is hoped that the spraying will encourage other coca farmers to agree to voluntary eradication schemes.

So the government has reached a voluntary agreement with large retailers and food producers.

Other voluntary trading experiments are producing positive results.

Toyota treated almost all that time as voluntary and unpaid.

The prime minister recently spoke warmly of charitable and voluntary bodies innovating public services in their communities.

The plan is voluntary for food companies and involves no legislation.

The pharmaceutical industry has agreed to a voluntary moratorium on branded promotional items.

Law-school accreditation is technically voluntary but practically important:.

The disabling effects of spinal injury or degenerative disease on voluntary movement can be permanent, because damaged.

Instead, he thinks that voluntary labeling would be more efficient.

It is proving difficult to say exactly how customers' voluntary payments for wind and solar power are actually used.

So you can rarely be sure that the money that ends up in the pockets of the rich got there by way of voluntary transactions alone.

The emphasis has always been persuasion and voluntary relocation".

For now, labeling of both genetically modified and organic foods is strictly voluntary.

Health care providers are hoping that the voluntary action will help to stave off new government price constraints.

O'Connor, took a voluntary leave of absence last month amid allegations that he had violated state ethics laws.

DuBois, who advocated a type of voluntary segregation.

She has established voluntary groups, such as the one in narrative.

He began by posting them on an obscure cell-phone site he started and made reader payment voluntary.

Bush emphasized a voluntary approach to reducing the gas emissions.

The decision to wear a wristband is purely voluntary.

What's more, these figures actually understate the total wetlands preserved through voluntary efforts.

Though the pilot program is voluntary now, it could lead to stricter enforcement.

Oath,” a voluntary student-led pledge that the goal of a business manager is to.

Even though its use was largely voluntary on behalf of the students.

Some are setting themselves voluntary targets in the hope of avoiding state coercion.

There will always be resistance by parents to have subsidized medications replace the option for education and voluntary controls.

The position is voluntary and runs for a term of three years.

But experience also shows that responding to severe droughts with voluntary efforts alone is not enough.

The government is working on a voluntary code with the food industry to limit the advertising of junk food to children.

There is significant difference between voluntary and involuntary exposure.

Manufacturers of tampons have begun a voluntary recall of products containing a fiber linked to toxic shock syndrome.

They also argue that monetary rewards can be used to improve the public and voluntary sectors.

Even after two voluntary bond conversions this year, extending maturities to between three and seven.

It seems that it is this voluntary searching mechanism that's prone to interference and forgetfulness.

Entrepreneurship is reshaping the voluntary sector as much as the private one.

We have a voluntary checkoff program that everyone participates in that generates funds to plug these wells.

Currently, they are guided by a voluntary code that aims to tackle potential conflicts of interest.

Alternatively, some of us poor souls would prefer voluntary euthanasia to pointless interminable suffering when the time comes.

Generally, voluntary surveys are biased by the motivations that produce participation:.

COLLAPSE

Collins

World English Dictionary

voluntary (ˈvɒləntərɪ, -trɪ)

—*adj*
1.	performed, undertaken, or brought about by free choice, willingly, or without being asked: a voluntary donation
2.	(of persons) serving or acting in a specified function of one's own accord and without compulsion or promise of remuneration: a voluntary social worker
3.	done by, composed of, or functioning with the aid of volunteers: a voluntary association
4.	endowed with, exercising, or having the faculty of willing: a voluntary agent
5.	arising from natural impulse; spontaneous: voluntary laughter
6.	law
	a. acting or done without legal obligation, compulsion, or persuasion
	b. made without payment or recompense in any form: a voluntary conveyance
7.	(of the muscles of the limbs, neck, etc) having their action controlled by the will
8.	maintained or provided by the voluntary actions or contributions of individuals and not by the state: voluntary schools; the voluntary system

—n , -taries
9.	music a composition or improvisation, usually for organ, played at the beginning or end of a church service
10.	work done without compulsion
11.	obsolete a volunteer, esp in an army

[C14: from Latin voluntārius, from voluntās will, from velle to wish]

volun'tarily

—*adv*

'voluntariness

—n

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline

Word Origin & History

voluntary

late 14c. (implied in voluntarily), from L. voluntarius "of one's free will," from voluntas "will," from the ancient accusative singular prp. of velle "to wish" (see will (v.)). Originally of feelings, later also of actions (c.1449).

American Heritage

Medical Dictionary

voluntary vol·un·tar·y (vŏl'ən-těr'ē)
adj.

Arising from or acting on one's own free will.
Normally controlled by or subject to individual volition, as of respiration.
Capable of making choices; having the faculty of will.

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"It is my contention that civil disobedients are nothing but the latest form of voluntary association, and that they are thus quite in tune with the oldest traditions of the country."

-Hannah Arendt

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