Other forms: volunteers, volunteered, volunteering
A volunteer is a person who works for free to help others. Recruit volunteers, work as a volunteer, volunteer firefighter.
The unpaid part is the definition, and the sector runs on it — hospitals, rescue services and festivals could not function without volunteers. As a verb it means to offer yourself, and volunteering for something is proverbially unwise in the army. Note that the Latin means willing, from voluntas, will.
1nounvolunteerA person who works for free to help others.
“Volunteers spent the weekend picking up rubbish from the beach.”
2verbyourselfTo offer yourself for a task.
“When the teacher asked for help, three students volunteered to stay behind and tidy up.”
Too few real examples of this word to estimate which sense is commonest.
volunteer is an unpaid helper.
Middle French voluntaire comes from Latin voluntarius, willing, from voluntas, will. Volition and voluntary come from the same will.
Proto-Indo-European
*welh₁-
Latin
voluntārius — willing, voluntary
Middle French
voluntaire
English, today
volunteer
Middle French voluntaire, from Latin voluntārius (“willing, voluntary”); or from voluntary + -eer.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA