involuntary

Etymology

From in- +‎ voluntary, from Late Latin involontarius, from in + volontarius.

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɒl.ən.tɹi/
- Audio (Southern England): (file)
(General American, dialects of Canada) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɑ.lənˌtɛɹ.i/
(Canada, dialects of the US) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɒl.ənˌtɛɹ.i/
(General Australian) IPA^(key): /ɪnˈvɔl.ən.tɹi/
Hyphenation: in‧vol‧un‧ta‧ry

Adjective

involuntary (comparative more involuntary, superlative most involuntary)

Without intention; unintentional.
Not voluntary or willing; contrary or opposed to explicit will or desire; unwilling.
He found himself the involuntary witness in the trial.

Synonyms

(without intention): inadvertent, unintended; see also Thesaurus:unintentional
(not voluntary): unbewised, unvoluntary; see also Thesaurus:compulsory

Derived terms

Related terms

volunteer

Translations

without intention; unintentional

Belarusian: мімаво́льны (mimavólʹny), міжво́льны (mižvólʹny), няво́льны (njavólʹny)
Bulgarian: нево́лен (bg) (nevólen)
Catalan: involuntari
Chinese:
Cantonese: 唔小心

Mandarin: 不小心
Dutch: niet intentioneel
Finnish: tahaton (fi), vahinko-
French: involontaire (fr)
Galician: involuntario (gl)
Georgian: უნებლიე (uneblie)
German: unabsichtlich (de), unwillkürlich (de), ungewollt (de)
Greek: ακούσιος (el) (akoúsios), αθέλητος (el) (athélitos)
Ancient: ἀκούιος (akoúios)
Hungarian: akaratlan (hu), önkéntelen (hu)
Italian: involontario (it)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xwenewîst
Norwegian:
Bokmål: ufrivillig (no)

Nynorsk: ufrivillig
Polish: mimowolny (pl)
Portuguese: involuntário (pt)
Romanian: involuntar (ro)
Russian: нево́льный (ru) (nevólʹnyj), непроизво́льный (ru) (neproizvólʹnyj)
Spanish: involuntario (es)
Ukrainian: мимові́льний (mymovílʹnyj), неві́льний (nevílʹnyj)

not voluntary or willing

Bulgarian: недоброво́лен (nedobrovólen), принуди́телен (bg) (prinudítelen)
Catalan: involuntari
Chinese:
Mandarin: 非自願 / 非自愿 (zh)
Dutch: onwillekeurig (nl)
Finnish: vastentahtoinen (fi), tahaton (fi)
German: unfreiwillig (de), ohne es zu wollen
Greek: ακούσιος (el) (akoúsios), αθέλητος (el) (athélitos)
Ancient: ἀκούιος (akoúios)
Hungarian: kényszerű (hu)
Japanese: 不本意 (ja) (fuhon'i)
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xwenewîst
Manx: neuarryltagh
Polish: mimowolny (pl)
Portuguese: involuntário (pt)
Russian: нево́льный (ru) (nevólʹnyj), недоброво́льный (ru) (nedobrovólʹnyj), принуди́тельный (ru) (prinudítelʹnyj)
Spanish: involuntario (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Interlingua: ^{(please verify)} involuntari
Irish: ^{(please verify)} éadoilteanach, ^{(please verify)} ainneonach, ^{(please verify)} neamhthoiliúil

References

William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “involuntary”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.
“involuntary”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.