But while imitation is initially automatic, it becomes more and more volitional. The voluntary nature of such an act is therefore obvious. Try to climb a single staircase and perform each elemental movement by a specific voluntary impulse. The deliberate aspect of consciousness is also explicitly provided for in language to some extent. (English Volitional pronunciation of Cambridge Advanced Learner`s Dictionary & Thesaurus and Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary, both Cambridge University Press sources ©) His faults are deliberate and are the portals of discovery. Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms of volitional Our feelings and emotions are the sources from which almost all our voluntary actions flow. Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article on Volition Join our community to access the latest language learning and assessment tips from Oxford University Press! Volition ultimately derives from the Latin verb velle, which means “to want” or “to desire”. (The adjective voluntary comes from the same source.) English speakers borrowed the term from French in the 17th century and first used it to mean “an act of choice,” a meaning used by Herman Melville in Moby Dick (1851): “Almost simultaneously, with a powerful will for instantaneous, ungraduated speed, the white whale whistled across the wild sea.” Melville`s use comes about a century after the word developed an additional meaning: “choosing power.” This meaning, which is now the predominant use of the word, is found in phrases such as “Members must adhere of their own free will.” Find the answers online with Practical English Usage, your go-to guide to problems in English. Find out which words work together and create more natural English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app. French, from Middle Latin volition-, volitio, from Latin vol- (stem of velle to will, wish) + -ition-, -itio (as in Latin position-, positio position) â more at will.