WILLING • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Willing

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/wˈɪlɪŋ/ Listen

verb

Will v. t. (past & past part. willed; pres. part. willing)

To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree. "What she will to do or say." "By all law and reason, that which the Parliament will not, is no more established in this kingdom." "Two things he (God) willeth, that we should be good, and that we should be happy."

To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order. (Obs. or R.) "They willed me say so, madam." "Send for music, And will the cooks to use their best of cunning To please the palate." "As you go, will the lord mayor... To attend our further pleasure presently."

To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.

Will v. i. To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire. "And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus... touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean." Note: This word has been confused with will, v. i., to choose, which, unlike this, is of the weak conjugation.

Will I, nill I, or Will ye, hill ye, or Will he, nill he, whether I, you, or he will it or not; hence, without choice; compulsorily; commonly abbreviated to willy nilly. "If I must take service willy nilly." "Land for all who would till it, and reading and writing will ye, nill ye."

Will v. i. To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree. "At Winchester he lies, so himself willed." "He that shall turn his thoughts inward upon what passes in his own mind when he wills." "I contend for liberty as it signifies a power in man to do as he wills or pleases."

adjective

Willing adj.

Free to do or to grant; having the mind inclined; not opposed in mind; not choosing to refuse; disposed; not averse; desirous; consenting; complying; ready. "Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." "With wearied wings and willing feet." "(Fruit) shaken in August from the willing boughs."

Received of choice, or without reluctance; submitted to voluntarily; chosen; desired. "(They) are held, with his melodious harmony, In willing chains and sweet captivity."

Spontaneous; self-moved. (R.) "No spouts of blood run willing from a tree."

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Etymology of 'Willing'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Willing" Quotes from Famous Books

... cauliflower ear. Yet was he a man of worth and a good citizen, and Ann had liked him from their first meeting. As for Jerry, he worshipped Ann and would have done anything she asked him. Ever since he had discovered that Ann was willing to listen to and sympathise with his outpourings on the subject of his troubled wooing, he had ...

— Piccadilly Jim • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

... control), and that all the goods in the cellar at the time of the quarrel were only of the value of ten shillings, to which he was entitled, as Quarriar still owed him thirty-three shillings. Moreover, he was willing to repeat in Quarriar's presence the lies the latter had tried to persuade him to tell. As to the children, he ...

— Ghetto Comedies • Israel Zangwill

... rituals and ceremonies attracts the passive who are willing to let the priest or pastor or prelate take charge of the religious work while they, the attendants or worshippers, sit quietly by and say amen and ...

— Evening Round Up - More Good Stuff Like Pep • William Crosbie Hunter

... the language." Chapman, a most spirited translator of Homer, probably had no very critical skill in Greek; and Hobbes was, beyond all question, as poor a Grecian as he was a doggerel translator; yet in this letter Pope professes his willing submission to the "authority" of Chapman and Hobbes, as ...

— Biographical Essays • Thomas de Quincey

... up, and boiling like an old Roman's; so he was determined to show Cursecowl that I had a friend in court, able and willing to keep him at stave's-end. "Keep a calm sough," said James Batter, interfering, "and not miscall the head of the house in his own shop; or, to say nothing of present consequences, by way of showing ye the road to the door, ...

— The Life of Mansie Wauch - Tailor in Dalkeith, written by himself • David Macbeth Moir

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