volitionaladj.
/vəˈlɪʃn̩(ə)l/, U.S. /voʊˈlɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l/, /vəˈlɪʃ(ə)n(ə)l/ 1.
a. Of or belonging to volition; pertaining or relating to the action of willing.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > [adjective]
animala1400
willya1500
volitive1660
volitional1817
voluntive1832
1817 J. Bentham Chrestomathia Pt. II 197 Whatsoever influence..the prospects of them may have upon the will or volitional faculty.
1853 R. Dunn in Jrnl. Ethnol. Soc. (1856) 4 43 The exercise of perception, memory, and volitional power.
1857 L. H. Grindon Life (ed. 2) xviii. 215 The conscious, volitional exercise of our noblest capabilities.
1897 Hutchinson's Arch. Surg. VIII. 223 It was conceivable that the absolute volitional rest imposed by the severe pain might have acted on the muscle.
b. Affecting or impairing the will-power.
ΘΚΠ
the world > health and disease > mental health > mental illness > degree or type of mental illness > [adjective] > of insanity: affecting the will-power
volitional1854
1854 J. C. Bucknill Unsoundness of Mind 28 Insanity may thus be Intellectual, Emotional, or Volitional.
2. Possessed of, endowed with, the faculty of volition; exercising or capable of exercising this.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > [adjective] > having the faculty of will
voluntary1593
willing1600
volitional1827
voluntative1883
1827 J. Bentham Rationale Judicial Evid. V. ix. iv. iii. 229 Besides the argument you present to the intellectual part of their frame, you present to its neighbour the volitional part another sort of argument.
1864 W. R. Alger Crit. Hist. Doctr. Future Life v. viii. 627 The essence of mind must be the common ground and element of all different states of consciousness. What is that common ground and element but the presence of a percipient volitional force, whether manifested or unmanifested, still there?
1887 M. Roberts Western Avernus 5 I began to feel alive, volitional, not dead and most basely mechanical as at home in England.
3. Of the nature of a volition.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > [adjective] > of the nature of volition
volitional1831
1831 Fraser's Mag. 4 361 It cannot move of itself, but a volitional thought is sufficient to raise it.
4. Of forces: Leading or impelling to action.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > motivation > [adjective] > motivating
motive1502
momentous1652
volitional1863
motivating1905
motivative1942
1863 A. W. Kinglake Invasion of Crimea (1877) I. Pref. p. xiii The volitional forces which acted upon Russia in 1853.
1874 H. Sidgwick Methods of Ethics i. iii. 22 There seem to be two grounds of objection,..one relating to the cognitive function, and the other to the motive or volitional influence, of the Practical Reason.
5.
a. Of actions, etc.: Arising from, due to, characterized by, the exercise of volition.Frequently from c1875.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > [adjective] > arising from the will
volitive1675
thelematica1832
volitional1859
volitionary1890
1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 675/1 The case of the respiratory muscles constitutes an example of mixed movements wherein volitional can be superadded to unconscious rythmic motion.
1875 E. Poste tr. Gaius Institutionum Iuris Civilis (ed. 2) i. Introd. Such actions are both Volitional (for the motor organs are set in motion by Volition) and Intentional.
1878 Smithsonian Rep. 419 The impulse causing the animal to make volitional movements comes from the peripheral centres.
1889 A. H. Buck Ref. Handbk. Med. Sci. VII. 689/2 There is probably one portion of the cerebrum in which volitional work is especially performed, viz., the frontal lobes.
b. Depending on volition or free choice.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > [adjective] > depending on free will
volitional1890
1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Colonial Reformer I. xii. 192 A mode of life more irregular, more volitional, than the daily mechanical regularity..at Garrandilla proper.
Derivatives
volitioˈnality n. the quality or state of being volitional.
ΚΠ
1895 I. K. Funk et al. Standard Dict. Eng. Lang. II.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1920; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1817