of one's own accord

English

WOTD – 11 October 2023

Etymology

PIE word
*ḱérd

From accord (“spontaneous or voluntary impulse to act”).

Pronunciation

(Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /əv ˌwʌnz əʊn əˈkɔːd/
(General American) IPA^(key): /əv ˌwʌnz oʊn əˈkɔɹd/
Audio (General American): (file)
Rhymes: -ɔː(ɹ)d
Hyphenation: of one’s own ac‧cord

Prepositional phrase

of one's own accord

On one's (or its) own initiative; under one's (or its) own power, without being commanded or controlled.
Synonyms: at one's own instigation, autonomously, (law) mero motu, off one's own bat, on one's own bat, spontaneously, (one sense) under one's own steam
- c. 1610–1611 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Winters Tale”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iii], page 284, column 2:
  [O]n mine ovvne accord, Ile off, / But firſt, Ile do my errand.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, 2 Corinthians 8:16–17, column 2:
  But thankes bee to God which put the ſame earneſt care into the heart of Titus for you. For indeed he accepted the exhortation, but being more forward, of his owne accord he went vnto you.
- 1697, Virgil, “The Tenth Pastoral. Or, Gallus.”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 92, lines 715–716:
  He feeds on fruits, vvhich, of their ovvn accord, / The vvilling Ground, and laden Trees afford.
- 1817 December 31 (indicated as 1818), [Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Rob Roy. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Archibald Constable and Co. […]; London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, →OCLC, page 163:
  [T]his same car of justice, which he finds it so hard to put in motion on some occasions, can on others run fast enough down hill of its own accord, dragging his reluctant self backwards along with it, […]
- 1860 July – 1861 June (date written), Anthony Trollope, “The Angel of Light under a Cloud”, in Orley Farm. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1862, →OCLC, page 59:
  And yet I didn't mean to do anything very wrong, and when I did meet him I wouldn't as much as let him take me by the hand;—not of my own accord.
- 1908 June, L[ucy] M[aud] Montgomery, “A Tempest in the School Teapot”, in Anne of Green Gables, Boston, Mass.: L[ouis] C[oues] Page & Company, published August 1909 (11th printing), →OCLC, pages 165–166:
  Depend on it, Marilla, she'll cool off in a week or so and be ready enough to go back of her own accord, that's what, while, if you were to make her go back right off, dear knows what freak or tantrum she'd take next and make more trouble than ever.
- 1950 September, “A West Country Whistle”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 578:
  On the return journey, however, the whistle began to sound once more of its own accord, and was still going at full blast when the train reached Barnstaple at about 9 p.m.

Usage notes

The phrase is also preceded by by, on, or upon.^[1] Despite this, the variant on one’s own accord is considered incorrect by some.

Translations

on one’s (or its) own initiative — see also autonomously

Armenian: ինքնըստինքյան (hy) (inkʻnəstinkʻyan)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 自願／自愿 (zh) (zìyuàn)
Dutch: goedschiks (nl) (adjective), op eigen houtje
Finnish: omin luvin, vapaaehtoisesti (fi)
French: de sa propre initiative, de son propre chef (fr)
German: auf eigene Faust (de) (literally “on one’s own fist”)
Greek:
Ancient Greek: αὐτόθεν (autóthen)
Gujarati: આપમેળે (āpameḷe), આપોઆપ (āpoāpa), પોતાની મેળે (potānī meḷe), પોતમેળે (potmeḷe), સ્વમેળે (svameḷe), સ્વયં (svayã)
Icelandic: af sjálfsdáðum, að fyrra bragði, óbeðinn (unasked), sjálfviljugur (voluntary)
Irish: as do stuaim féin, de dheoin, de do dheoin féin, de do leontaíl féin (Ulster), de do leointe féin (Munster)
Italian: da sé, di propria iniziativa
Japanese: 自発的 (ja) (じはつてき, jihatsuteki)
Macedonian: добро́волно (dobróvolno), по со́пствена же́лба (po sópstvena žélba), по со́пствена во́лја (po sópstvena vólja)
Polish: na własne życzenie, z dobrej i nieprzymuszonej woli, z własnej i nieprzymuszonej woli (emphatic), z własnej woli
Russian: доброво́льно (ru) (dobrovólʹno), по со́бственной во́ле (po sóbstvennoj vóle), по со́бственному жела́нию (po sóbstvennomu želániju)
Swedish: av sig själv (sv), på eget bevåg (sv), självmant (sv)
Ukrainian: доброві́льно (dobrovílʹno), з вла́сної во́лі (z vlásnoji vóli)

References

^ “of (also by, on, upon) one’s own accord, phrase” under “accord, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023; “of one’s own accord, phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.