1.Previous
3.Next

The verb was first recorded in 1755. It was derived from the noun volunteer, in 1600, "one who offers himself for military service," from the Middle French voluntaire. In the non-military sense, the word was first recorded during the 1630s. The word volunteering has more recent usage--still predominantly military--coinciding with the phrase community service. In a military context, a volunteer army is a military body whose soldiers have chosen to enlist,

1.Previous
3.Next