Volunteer in Different Languages
Discover 'Volunteer' in 134 Languages: Dive into Translations, Hear Pronunciations, and Uncover Cultural Insights.
Volunteer
Afrikaans vrywilliger | ||
Albanian vullnetar | ||
Amharic ፈቃደኛ | ||
Arabic تطوع | ||
Armenian կամավոր | ||
Assamese স্বেচ্ছাসেৱক | ||
Aymara wuluntaryu | ||
Azerbaijani könüllü | ||
Bambara wɔlɔntɛri | ||
Basque boluntarioa | ||
Belarusian валанцёр | ||
Bengali স্বেচ্ছাসেবক | ||
Bhojpuri स्वंयसेवक | ||
Bosnian dobrovoljac | ||
Bulgarian доброволец | ||
Catalan voluntari | ||
Cebuano boluntaryo | ||
Chinese (Simplified) 志愿者 | ||
Chinese (Traditional) 志願者 | ||
Corsican vuluntariu | ||
Croatian dobrovoljac | ||
Czech dobrovolník | ||
Danish frivillig | ||
Dhivehi ވޮލަންޓިއަރ | ||
Dogri रजाकार | ||
Dutch vrijwilliger | ||
English volunteer | ||
Esperanto volontulo | ||
Estonian vabatahtlik | ||
Ewe tsɔ ɖokui na | ||
Filipino (Tagalog) boluntaryo | ||
Finnish vapaaehtoinen | ||
French bénévole | ||
Frisian frijwilliger | ||
Galician voluntario | ||
Georgian მოხალისე | ||
German freiwillige | ||
Greek εθελοντής | ||
Guarani kyre'ỹ | ||
Gujarati સ્વયંસેવક | ||
Haitian Creole volontè | ||
Hausa mai sa kai | ||
Hawaiian hana manawaleʻa | ||
Hebrew לְהִתְנַדֵב | ||
Hindi स्वयंसेवक | ||
Hmong tuaj pab dawb | ||
Hungarian önkéntes | ||
Icelandic sjálfboðaliði | ||
Igbo ọrụ afọ ofufo | ||
Ilocano situtulnog | ||
Indonesian sukarelawan | ||
Irish oibrí deonach | ||
Italian volontario | ||
Japanese ボランティア | ||
Javanese sukarelawan | ||
Kannada ಸ್ವಯಂಸೇವಕ | ||
Kazakh ерікті | ||
Khmer អ្នកស្ម័គ្រចិត្ត | ||
Kinyarwanda umukorerabushake | ||
Konkani स्वयंसेवी | ||
Korean 지원자 | ||
Krio kam fɔ ɛp | ||
Kurdish dilxwaz | ||
Kurdish (Sorani) خۆبەخش | ||
Kyrgyz ыктыярдуу | ||
Lao ອາສາສະ ໝັກ | ||
Latin voluntarius | ||
Latvian brīvprātīgais | ||
Lingala mosali ya bolingo malamu | ||
Lithuanian savanoris | ||
Luganda okwewaayo | ||
Luxembourgish fräiwëlleg | ||
Macedonian волонтер | ||
Maithili स्वयंसेवी | ||
Malagasy mpilatsaka an-tsitrapo | ||
Malay sukarelawan | ||
Malayalam സദ്ധന്നസേവിക | ||
Maltese voluntier | ||
Maori tūao | ||
Marathi स्वयंसेवक | ||
Meiteilon (Manipuri) ꯏꯁꯥꯅ ꯊꯣꯛꯆꯕ | ||
Mizo tlawmngaia inpe | ||
Mongolian сайн дурын ажилтан | ||
Myanmar (Burmese) စေတနာ့ဝန်ထမ်း | ||
Nepali स्वयंसेवक | ||
Norwegian frivillig | ||
Nyanja (Chichewa) kudzipereka | ||
Odia (Oriya) ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ | ||
Oromo tola ooltummaa | ||
Pashto داوطلب | ||
Persian داوطلب | ||
Polish wolontariusz | ||
Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) voluntário | ||
Punjabi ਵਾਲੰਟੀਅਰ | ||
Quechua voluntario | ||
Romanian voluntar | ||
Russian волонтер | ||
Samoan ofo | ||
Sanskrit स्वयंसेवी | ||
Scots Gaelic saor-thoileach | ||
Sepedi moithaopi | ||
Serbian добровољац | ||
Sesotho moithaopi | ||
Shona kuzvipira | ||
Sindhi رضاڪار | ||
Sinhala (Sinhalese) ස්වේච්ඡා සේවය | ||
Slovak dobrovoľník | ||
Slovenian prostovoljec | ||
Somali iskaa wax u qabso | ||
Spanish voluntario | ||
Sundanese sukwan | ||
Swahili kujitolea | ||
Swedish volontär- | ||
Tagalog (Filipino) magboluntaryo | ||
Tajik ихтиёрӣ | ||
Tamil தன்னார்வ | ||
Tatar волонтер | ||
Telugu వాలంటీర్ | ||
Thai อาสาสมัคร | ||
Tigrinya ግዱስ | ||
Tsonga tinyiketela | ||
Turkish gönüllü | ||
Turkmen meýletinçi | ||
Twi (Akan) tu wo ho si hɔ | ||
Ukrainian волонтер | ||
Urdu رضاکار | ||
Uyghur پىدائىي | ||
Uzbek ko'ngilli | ||
Vietnamese tình nguyện viên | ||
Welsh gwirfoddolwr | ||
Xhosa ivolontiya | ||
Yiddish פרייַוויליקער | ||
Yoruba yọọda | ||
Zulu ivolontiya |
Etymology & Notes
| Language | Etymology / Notes |
|---|---|
| Afrikaans | "Vrywilliger" in Afrikaans stems from the Dutch word "vrijwilliger," meaning "freely willing" and carries the same connotation of choice and agency. |
| Albanian | The word "vullnetar" in Albanian derives from the Latin word "voluntarius," meaning "willing" or "of one's own free will." |
| Amharic | The word "ፈቃደኛ" originally meant "willing" or "compliant" and only later took on the meaning of "volunteer". |
| Arabic | "تطوع" in Arabic can also mean "to act on one's own accord" or "to offer oneself". |
| Armenian | The word "կամավոր" also means "one who gives willingly" or "one who acts out of good will". |
| Azerbaijani | In the Ottoman period, the Ottoman army was largely composed of professional soldiers called "yeniçeriler" (janissaries), while volunteers were known as "könüllüler". Thus, the word "könüllü" also took on the meaning of "mercenary" in that period. |
| Basque | The Basque word "boluntarioa" is derived from the Latin word "voluntarius," which means "willing or free". It can also refer to someone who works without pay for a cause or organization. |
| Belarusian | The Belarusian word “валанцёр” also means “a tightrope walker”, which has some parallels with the duties of a volunteer. |
| Bengali | The word "স্বেচ্ছাসেবক" ("volunteer") in Bengali derives from the Sanskrit word "স্বেচ্ছা" ("own wish"). |
| Bosnian | Originally, "dobrovoljac" meant "a person who gives gifts to beggars". |
| Bulgarian | The word "доброволец" comes from the Old Church Slavonic word "добръ воля", meaning "good will". In modern Bulgarian, the word can also refer to a person who donates blood or organs. |
| Catalan | Voluntari also means "a volunteer who works without compensation, or for little pay" and comes from the Latin word "voluntarius", which in turn derives from "voluntas", meaning "will". |
| Chinese (Simplified) | The word "志愿者” can also mean "aspiration" or "desire" in Chinese. |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 志願者, refers to a person who does public-serving work by their own free will. |
| Corsican | The Corsican word "vuluntariu" can also mean "willing" or "eager". |
| Croatian | Dobrovoljac is thought to derive from the Slavic word "dobro" meaning "good". |
| Czech | The word "dobrovolník" comes from the Slavic root "dobro" meaning "good" and the suffix "-ník" meaning "doer" or "person who does something". |
| Danish | The word 'frivillig' in Danish derives from a combination of the words 'fri' (free) and 'villig' (willing). |
| Dutch | The word "vrijwilliger" is derived from the Middle Dutch word "vrywillich", meaning "free will" or "willingly". It can also refer to someone who is not conscripted or forced to do something. |
| Esperanto | In Esperanto, the word "volontulo" can also refer to someone who does something without being paid. |
| Estonian | The word "vabatahtlik" comes from the Estonian words "vaba" (free) and "tahe" (will), meaning someone who acts out of their own free will. |
| Finnish | The word "vapaaehtoinen" literally means "free-willed" in Finnish, reflecting the voluntary nature of the role. |
| French | 'Bénévole' derives from the Latin 'bene volens,' meaning 'well wishing', and can also refer to a person who provides free services. |
| Frisian | The word "frijwilliger" in Frisian is derived from the Old Frisian word "frijwillich", meaning "free will". |
| Galician | In Galician, "voluntario" may also refer to an unmercenary soldier or a piece of land given to a person to cultivate. |
| Georgian | In ancient Georgian, |
| German | The German word "Freiwillige" can also refer to a voluntary or reserve military force. |
| Greek | The Greek word εθελοντής, derived from the root εθελ-, meaning 'willing', originally referred to soldiers who fought without pay. |
| Haitian Creole | The word 'volontè' in Haitian Creole is derived from the French word 'volonté', meaning 'will' or 'desire'. |
| Hausa | The term "mai sa kai" loosely translates to "one who offers their services for the greater good," often referring to community volunteers. |
| Hawaiian | Hana Manawa is the Hawaiian phrase meaning volunteer, however it's original meaning refers to the sharing of a skill, service or resource without expectation of payment. |
| Hebrew | The Hebrew word להתנדב originated from the word "נדר", which means a vow, commitment, or obligation. |
| Hindi | स्वयंसेवक, meaning "volunteer" in Hindi, also refers to a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu nationalist organization in India. |
| Hmong | The word "tuaj pab dawb" can also mean "to work for free" or "to do something without being paid".} |
| Hungarian | In Hungarian, "önkéntes" means "voluntary" or "of one's own free will," and is derived from the word "önként" meaning "of one's own accord." |
| Igbo | The Igbo word "ọrụ afọ ofufo" can be interpreted as both "work of the year you find yourself" and "work that makes you happy". |
| Indonesian | The word 'sukarelawan' in Indonesian is composed of Sanskrit words 'suka' ( |
| Italian | "Volontario" also means "freely chosen" in Italian. |
| Japanese | "ボランティア" derives from the French "volontaire" and, originally, referred to a type of soldier or other military personnel, only later coming to mean an unpaid worker." |
| Javanese | "Sukarelawan" is derived from the Sanskrit word "svaraj" which means self-rule but in the Javanese context, it means a person who works without being forced. |
| Kazakh | The word "ерікті" in Kazakh has an alternate meaning of "willing" or "ready" |
| Korean | The Korean word "지원자" comes from the chinese characters 지원(参政), meaning "to assist" or "to help", and 자(宏), meaning "self" or "person." |
| Kurdish | The word "dilxwaz" in Kurdish has alternative meanings such as "kind" and "devoted". |
| Kyrgyz | The word "ыктыярдуу" is derived from the Arabic word "iḫtiyār", meaning "choice" or "option." |
| Lao | This word derives from Pali and Sanskrit and relates to desire or devotion to an activity. |
| Latin | Voluntarius initially meant "of one's own free will" or "willing" in Latin, later taking the meaning "volunteer" in English. |
| Latvian | The word "brīvprātīgais" comes from the Latvian word "brīvs" meaning "free" and the suffix "-ātīgais", which indicates that something is prone to or willing to do something. |
| Lithuanian | The word "savanoris" originates from the Latin word "spontaneus", meaning "voluntary". It was introduced into the Lithuanian language in the 19th century. |
| Malagasy | 'Mpivolatsaka an-tsitrapo' literally means 'someone who throws themselves into the fight'. |
| Malay | The word "sukarelawan" derives from the Sanskrit word "sukara" meaning "good" and "lavan" meaning "desire". |
| Malayalam | The word is derived from the Sanskrit word 'saddharmashevika' meaning 'one who serves the righteous' |
| Maltese | In Maltese, "voluntier" can also refer to a person who receives alms. |
| Maori | The word "tūao" in Maori originates from the Polynesian Proto-Oceanic root "tūa", meaning "to stand" or "to be in the right place". |
| Marathi | The word "स्वयंसेवक" in Marathi can also mean "a member of a volunteer corps or organization" or "a person who works for a cause without expecting any reward or payment." |
| Mongolian | The term can also refer to 'an unpaid assistant or subordinate worker'. |
| Nepali | स्वयंसेवक may also refer to a member of the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) |
| Norwegian | The word 'frivillig' is derived from the Latin word 'voluntarius', meaning 'willing' or 'of one's own free will'. |
| Nyanja (Chichewa) | In Chichewa, "kudzipereka" has connotations of self-reliance and acting without external motivation, capturing the spirit of volunteerism. |
| Pashto | The word "داوطلب" (volunteer) is derived from the Persian word "دولت" (government), referring to those who are willing to serve the state.} |
| Persian | In 19th century Ottoman Persian, "داوطلب" also meant "conscript" or "recruit". |
| Polish | Polish word "wolontariusz" (volunteer) derives from Latin "voluntas" (will) and "-arius" (related to), so it literally means "related to one's will or wish." |
| Portuguese (Portugal, Brazil) | In Brazilian Portuguese, the word "voluntário" not only means a "volunteer," but also refers to a "soldier enlisted for one or two years" in the army and, when combined with a noun, means "related to the will," such as in "ato voluntário" (voluntary act). |
| Punjabi | ਵਾਲੰਟੀਅਰ শব্দটি लॅटिन शब्द voluntarius থেকে এসেছে যার অর্থ "স্বেচ্ছায় কাজ করা"। |
| Romanian | "Voluntar" can also mean "auxiliary" or "substitute" in Romanian in certain contexts. |
| Russian | "Волонтер" происходит от французского слова «volontaire» и изначально означало «охотник, стрелок». |
| Samoan | The Samoan word 'ofo' also means 'to help someone' or 'to do something for someone'. |
| Scots Gaelic | Saor-thoileach is a Scots Gaelic word meaning "free-willed," with the prefix "saor" corresponding to the English word "free". |
| Serbian | The word "dobrovoljac" is derived from the Proto-Slavic word *dobrovolьnikъ, meaning "a free man or woman". |
| Sesotho | The word 'moithaopi' in Sesotho is also used to refer to someone who offers their services for free or on a voluntary basis. |
| Shona | Kuzvipira is related to kuzviro which means to sacrifice something for a greater cause. |
| Sindhi | The Sindhi word |
| Slovak | In Slovak, 'dobrovoľník' comes from the root 'dobro', meaning 'good' or 'kind', indicating the benevolent nature of voluntary work. |
| Slovenian | The term 'prostovoljec' originally meant a member of an informal militia who was not compensated, and who fought alongside professional soldiers. |
| Somali | The Somali word "iskaa wax u qabso" derives from "iskaa" (self), "wax" (thing), and "u qabso" (to take hold), implying taking matters into one's own hands. |
| Spanish | The word "voluntario" can also mean "auxiliary" or "reservist" in Spanish. |
| Sundanese | The word "sukwan" in Sundanese also means "free of charge" or "without payment". |
| Swahili | The word "kujitolea" also means "to dedicate oneself" or "to offer oneself". It is derived from the root word "-jitoa," which means "to give". |
| Swedish | "Volontär" is also the Swedish word for a member of the Swedish Volunteers, a regiment formed in 1803 that participated in the Napoleonic Wars. |
| Tagalog (Filipino) | "Magboluntaryo" originally meant "to do freely, without being forced." |
| Tajik | The word |
| Telugu | The word "వాలంటీర్" (volunteer) is derived from the Latin word "voluntarius", meaning "willing". |
| Thai | The word "อาสาสมัคร" can also mean "candidate" or "applicant" in Thai. |
| Turkish | "Gönüllü" kelimesi Osmanlı döneminde "gönlünü veren kişi" anlamına gelirdi. |
| Ukrainian | The Ukrainian word 'волонтер' is a cognate of the French 'volontaire', and has the alternate meanings of 'auxiliary' or 'temporary worker'. |
| Uzbek | The word "ko'ngilli" in Uzbek is derived from the word "ko'ngil", meaning "heart", and refers to the selflessness and dedication of volunteers. |
| Vietnamese | Tình nguyện viên, in Vietnamese, literally means "one who offers their heart," implying a deep commitment to helping others. |
| Welsh | The Welsh word "gwirfoddolwr" literally means "one who does something truly free of obligation". |
| Xhosa | In Xhosa, 'ivolontiya' comes from the English word 'volunteer', but can also refer to paid work or other forms of assistance. |
| Yoruba | "Yọọda" can also mean "to help" or "to assist" in Yoruba. |
| Zulu | In Zulu, 'ivolontiya' also refers to a person who does work for no pay or reward. |
| English | The word 'volunteer' originated in the 17th century from the French word 'volontaire,' which means 'willing' or 'eager'. |