volition

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for September 20, 2026 is: volition \voh-LISH-un\ noun Volition is a formal word that means “the power to make your own choices or decisions.” Usually, though not always, volition follows own, as in “left the company of her own volition.” // Every choice I made was of my own volition and not due to outside influence. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/volition) Examples: “Believe it or not, a lot of people find worms in their birdbaths. … Some birds, most notably crows, like to give their food a good dunking before eating, so there’s a possibility worms in the birdbath were left by these fastidious birds. The most likely reason is that the worms crawled there on their own volition.” — Joan Morris, The Marin Independent Journal (San Rafael, California), 3 May 2026 Did you know? When you do something of your own volition, you do it voluntarily, which makes sense—both volition and voluntary ultimately come from the Latin velle, meaning “to wish” or “to will.” English speakers borrowed volition from French in the 17th century, using it at first to mean “an act of choosing,” a meaning Herman Melville employed in Moby-Dick (1851): “Almost simultaneously, with a mighty volition of ungraduated, instantaneous swiftness, the White Whale darted through the weltering sea.” By then, however, the word had also developed an additional meaning, “the power to choose,” which is now more common.