own accord

of own accord

Meaning

• by one's own choice
• voluntarily, willingly, without coercion
• without being asked to or forced by

Example Sentences

1. The managing director of the company didn't have to be asked to resign – he went of his own accord.
2. Do you think the officer gave that statement of his own accord or was he forced to do it by his superiors?
3. Fueled by his passion to win the medal, the sprinter's feet seemed to move of their own accord and set a blistering pace not seen previously in the competition.
4. He started cleaning up the place of his own accord, saying that he didn't want to burden anyone else with his chores.
5. She left the place of her own accord, no one asked her to go.
6. If she does not start doing it of her own accord, I will have to force her to do it, else she will have to face the consequences.
7. I decided to fix the problem of my own accord, I did not want to wait for orders from higher up.
8. When the defect was found, the company decided to offer a refund of its own accord, without waiting for complaints from customers.

Origin
The phrase originated from about 1450. Another variant of this phrase, “on own accord”, is sometimes used, but is considered incorrect by most.