WILLING • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • 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

... followed the officer he wondered what the plan was and in what manner his services could be of use in its execution. So far his occupations had been many and various, and, being willing and prepared to do any mortal thing, he felt no anxiety about the task he was to ...

— Under the Rebel's Reign • Charles Neufeld

... signify," pursued the Colonel; "I am an old acquaintance of the late Mr. Bertram, able and willing to assist his daughter in her present circumstances. Besides, I have thoughts of making this purchase, and I should wish things kept in order about the place; will you have the goodness to apply this small sum in the usual family expenses?"—He put into the Dominie's ...

— Guy Mannering • Sir Walter Scott

... recount them. And I can only conclude that if the novel is still as full of energy as it seems to be, and is not a form of imaginative art that, having seen the best of its day, is preparing to give place to some other, the novelist will not be willing to miss the inexhaustible opportunity that lies in its treatment. The easy way is no way at all; the only way is that by which the most is made of the story to be told, and the most was never made of any story except by a ...

— The Craft of Fiction • Percy Lubbock

... to this usage," remarked Captain Kant, "as irreligious, French, and tending to sans-culotteism. I am willing to admit of this distinguished instance as an exception; but on all other grounds, I shall maintain that it savours of infidelity to smoke. The Prussian government, much the best of our ...

— Home as Found • James Fenimore Cooper

... planted chapels and built hermits' cells. There was a little parish church near, but tall elms and quivering alders hid it from my sight, when, all of a sudden, I was startled by the sound of the full organ pealing on the ear, accompanied by rustic voices and the willing choir of village maids and children. It rose, indeed, 'like an exhalation of rich distilled perfumes.' The dew from a thousand pastures was gathered in its softness; the silence of a thousand years spoke in it. It came upon ...

— Table-Talk - Essays on Men and Manners • William Hazlitt

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