Volitational

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. The process of exercising will is integral to how decisions are made in life
2. This term refers to the quality linked to the act of choosing, intending, and engaging one’s will
3. The concept involves the capacity to make choices and exercise intent while actively utilizing one's will

Etymology: "Volitional" is built from "volition" plus the suffix "-al", and the root of "volition" is the Latin verb "volō", meaning "I wish" or "I am willing." The Latin noun "volitiō" (the act of willing) was formed from that verb with the suffix "-tiō", and it passed through Medieval Latin into French as "volition," which English took over as a term for the faculty or act of choosing. The adjective ending comes from Latin "-ālis" by way of Old French and Middle English, so the chain runs from Latin verb to noun to French to English. The word is a straightforward derivative rather than a story with a single coiner, so its interest lies in the root it shares with other English words. "Volition" and "benevolent" both come from "volō," with "bene-" ("well") added in the second, so a benevolent person is literally one who wishes well. Similarly, "malevolent" wishes ill. The Latin verb is the same source that gives English "voluntary" and "volunteer," which carry the same sense of acting by one's own will.