[vol.un.teer] n [obs. F voluntaire (now volontaire), fr. voluntaire, adj., voluntary, fr. L voluntarius] (ca. 1618) 1: a person who voluntarily undertakes or expresses a willingness to undertake a service: as a: one who enters into military service voluntarily b (1): one who renders a service or takes part in a transaction while having no legal concern or interest (2): one who receives a conveyance or transfer of property without giving valuable consideration
2: a volunteer plant 3 cap [Volunteers of America]: a member of a quasi-military religious and philanthropic organization founded in 1896 by Commander and Mrs. Ballington Booth
[2]volunteer adj (1649) 1: being, consisting of, or engaged in by volunteers "a ~ army" "~ activities to help the mentally handicapped"
2: growing spontaneously without direct human control or supervision esp. from seeds lost from a previous crop "~ corn plants" [3]volunteer vi (ca. 1755): to offer oneself as a volunteer ~ vt: to offer or bestow voluntarily "~ one's services"