voluntarist C2+ Topic:People & Society US /ˈvɑlən.tɛrɪst/ UK /ˈvɒlən.tərɪst/ See IPA manual Meanings 1 noun a person who holds that the will is primary, or relating to such a doctrine As a voluntarist, she argued that desire, not reason, drives every decision. Thesaurus Synonyms 1 noun · a person who holds that the... volitionist ↔ Opposites deterministintellectualist Word family Derived forms voluntaristicvoluntaristically Related forms voluntarismvoluntaryvolition Etymology AI details From voluntarism (from Latin voluntas 'will', from velle 'to will') plus the agent/adjective suffix -ist. voluntarius Latin voluntas Latin velle Latin View etymology graph -> Topics People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives External links Cambridge Dictionary Wiktionary Google Images # voluntarist **Type:** Word **Level:** C2+ **Part of speech:** noun **IPA (US):** /ˈvɑlən.tɛrɪst/ **IPA (UK):** /ˈvɒlən.tərɪst/ ## Meanings 1. a person who holds that the will is primary, or relating to such a doctrine ## Examples - As a voluntarist, she argued that desire, not reason, drives every decision. ## Synonyms - volitionist ## Antonyms - determinist - intellectualist ## Derived Forms - voluntaristic - voluntaristically ## Related Forms - voluntarism - voluntary - volition ## Roots and Affixes - Root: voluntarius - Root: voluntas - Root: velle ## Etymology From voluntarism (from Latin voluntas 'will', from velle 'to will') plus the agent/adjective suffix -ist. ## AI Etymology Voluntarist comes from voluntarism (from Latin voluntas 'will', from velle 'to will') plus the agent/adjective suffix -ist. In current use it is a noun and adjective meaning "a person who holds that the will is primary, or relating to such a doctrine". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. The historical chain includes Latin voluntarius, Latin voluntas, and Latin velle. Related English forms include voluntarism, voluntary, and volition. Derived forms include voluntaristic and voluntaristically. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning. ## Topics - People & Society - Word Formation & Derivatives markdown