Word
volition
Phoneticsvo·li·tion
US/voʊˈɫɪʃən/
UK/vəlˈɪʃən/
Definitions
01personal choice
n. the act of deciding to do something because you want to, rather than being forced by someone else.
n. the exercise of one's will in making a conscious decision. Often used in the phrase 'of one's own volition'.
“He decided to leave the company of his own volition, not because he was fired.”
“The witness claimed she had provided the statement of her own volition, without any pressure or coercion from the investigating officers.”
Formal
Usage
Commonly appears in the prepositional phrase 'of one's own volition'.
Antonyms
02the power of will
n. the mental ability to choose or decide what to do.
n. the cognitive process by which an individual decides on and commits to a particular course of action; the faculty of will.
“The patient's injury affected his volition, making it hard for him to start simple tasks.”
“Philosophers have long debated whether human volition is truly free or merely a product of biological and environmental determinism.”
Academic · Formal
Usage
Often used in philosophical, psychological, or legal contexts to discuss the capacity for intent.
Synonyms
Real-World Examples
“The players have also stayed behind for extra shooting practice of their own volition, De Zerbi said.” Etymology
From French volition, from Medieval Latin volitiō (“will, volition”), from Latin volō (“to wish; to want; to mean or intend”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European welh₁- (“to choose; to want”)) + -tiō (suffix forming nouns relating to some action or the result of an action) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European -tis (suffix forming abstract or action nouns from verbs)).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Related words
Domain
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/volition