What is "voluntary oath"

Voluntary \Vol"un*ta*ry\, a. [L. voluntarius, fr. voluntas will, choice, from the root of velle to will, p. pr. volens; akin to E. will: cf. F. volontaire, Of. also voluntaire. See Will, v. t., and cf. Benevolent, Volition, Volunteer.]

1. Proceeding from the will; produced in or by an act of choice.

   That sin or guilt pertains exclusively to voluntary action is the true principle of orthodoxy.
   --N. W. Taylor.

2. Unconstrained by the interference of another; unimpelled by the influence of another; not prompted or persuaded by another; done of his or its own accord; spontaneous; acting of one's self, or of itself; free.

   Our voluntary service he requires.
   --Milton.

   She fell to lust a voluntary prey.
   --Pope.

3. Done by design or intention; intentional; purposed; intended; not accidental; as, if a man kills another by lopping a tree, it is not voluntary manslaughter.

4. (Physiol.) Of or pertaining to the will; subject to, or regulated by, the will; as, the voluntary motions of an animal, such as the movements of the leg or arm (in distinction from involuntary motions, such as the movements of the heart); the voluntary muscle fibers, which are the agents in voluntary motion.

5. Endowed with the power of willing; as, man is a voluntary agent.

   God did not work as a necessary, but a voluntary, agent, intending beforehand, and decreeing with himself, that which did outwardly proceed from him.
   --Hooker.

6. (Law) Free; without compulsion; according to the will, consent, or agreement, of a party; without consideration; gratuitous; without valuable consideration.

7. (Eccl.) Of or pertaining to voluntaryism; as, a voluntary church, in distinction from an established or state church.

   Voluntary affidavit or Voluntary oath (Law), an affidavit or oath made in an extrajudicial matter.

   Voluntary conveyance (Law), a conveyance without valuable consideration.

   Voluntary escape (Law), the escape of a prisoner by the express consent of the sheriff.

   Voluntary jurisdiction. (Eng. Eccl. Law) See Contentious jurisdiction, under Contentious.

   Voluntary waste. (Law) See Waste, n., 4.

   Syn: See Spontaneous.