Etymology
1. O.E.
*willan, wyllan "to wish, desire, want" (past tense
wolde), from P.Gmc.
*welljan (cf. O.S.
willian, O.N.
vilja, O.Fris.
willa, Du.
willen, O.H.G.
wellan, Ger.
wollen, Goth.
wiljan "to will, wish, desire," Goth.
waljan "to choose"), from PIE
*wel-/*wol- "be pleasing" (cf. Skt.
vrnoti "chooses, prefers,"
varyah "to be chosen, eligible, excellent,"
varanam "choosing;" Avestan
verenav- "to wish, will, choose;" Gk.
elpis "hope;" L.
volo,
velle "to wish, will, desire;" O.C.S.
voljo, voliti "to will,"
veljo, veleti "to command;" Lith.
velyti "to wish, favor,"
pa-vel-mi "I will,"
viliuos "I hope;" Welsh
gwell "better"). Cf. also O.E.
wel "well," lit. "according to one's wish;"
wela "well-being, riches." The use as a future auxiliary was already developing in O.E. The implication of intention or volition distinguishes it from shall, which expresses or implies obligation or necessity. Contracted forms, especially after pronouns, began to appear 16c., as in
sheele for "she will." The form with an apostrophe is from 17c.
2. From Middle English willen, wullen, wollen, from Old English willan (“to want”), from Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, wish”).
3. Cognates
4. Cognate with Yola ill, weel, well, will, woul, wull (“will”), North Frisian wale, wel (“to want”), Saterland Frisian and West Frisian wolle (“to want”), Alemannic German and Central Franconian welle (“to want”), Cimbrian béllan, bölln (“to want”), Dutch willen (“to want”), German wollen (“to want”), Low German wüllen (“to want; will”), Luxembourgish wëllen (“to want”), Yiddish וועלן (veln, “to want”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål ville (“to want”), Faroese, Icelandic, and Swedish vilja (“to want”), Jamtish vili (“to want; wish”), Norwegian Nynorsk vilja, vilje (“want; will”), Gothic 𐍅𐌹𐌻𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wiljan, “to want”); also Latin velle (“wish”, verb), voleō, volo (“to please, to wish; to want”), French vouloir (“to want”), Italian volere (“to want”), Irish fleá, fleadh (“feast”), Scottish Gaelic fleadh (“feast”), Welsh gwledd (“banquet, feast”), Lithuanian viltis (“to hope; to rely; to expect”), Czech velet (“to command”), volit (“to choose; to elect”), Polish woleć (“to prefer”), Russian во́ля (vólja, “freedom”), во́льный (vólʹnyj, “free”), веле́ть (velétʹ, “to command, to enjoin, to order”), Ukrainian воля (volja, “freedom, liberty, will”), вільний (vilʹnyj, “free”), веліти (velity, “to will, to order, to command”), воліти (volity, “to will, to prefer”), Old Armenian գեղձ (gełj, “desire, wish”), Sanskrit वृणीते (vṛṇīte), वृणोति (vṛṇoti, “to choose”). The verb is not always distinguishable from Etymology 3, below.
5. (indicating future action): Compare typologically Bulgarian ще (šte), Macedonian ќе (ḱe), Serbo-Croatian хтети (< Proto-Slavic *xotěti). See: Middle English '
willen', Old English '
willan', Proto-Germanic '
*wiljaną', Frisian, Northern 'wale', Cimbrian 'béllan', Dutch '
willen', German, old spelling '
wollen', Low Saxon 'wüllen', Luxembourgish '
wëllen', Norwegian, nynorsk '
vilja', Latin '
velle', French '
vouloir', Italian '
volere', Lithuanian '
viltis', Czech '
velet', Polish '
woleć', Sanskrit '
वृणीते'.
Verbs referencing "will"
Danish
ville, Norwegian, nynorsk
vilja, German, old spelling
wollen, German, Pennsylvania
wolle, Alemannic German
welle, Cimbrian béllan, Low Saxon wüllen, Proto-Slavic
velěti, Sanskrit
वृणीते.