nill en · VERB · etymology 1
Pronunciation
- /nɪl/
Etymology
From Middle English nillen, from Old English nyllan (“to not want”), corresponding to ne + will. Cognate with Old Frisian nelle. Not directly related to Latin nolo, which is an independent construction of the same manner, but the morphemes that compound both verbs are cognates.
Meanings
-
(auxiliary, modal, obsolete) To be unwilling; will not (+ infinitive).
I here auow thee neuer to forſake. Ill weares he armes, that nill them vſe for Ladies ſake.
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto V”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 465:What I nill tell, you aske (quoth ſhe) in vaine, Nor mou’d by praier, nor conſtraind by powre[…]
1600, [Torquato Tasso], “The Twelfth Booke of Godfrey of Bulloigne”, in Edward Fairefax [i.e., Edward Fairfax], transl., Godfrey of Bulloigne, or The Recouerie of Ierusalem. […], London: […] Ar[nold] Hatfield, for I[saac] Iaggard and M[atthew] Lownes, →OCLC, stanza 61, page 225:
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(archaic, intransitive) To be unwilling.
I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill:[…]
1955 October 20, J[ohn] R[onald] R[euel] Tolkien, “Appendix A”, in The Return of the King: Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings […], New York, N.Y.: Ballantine Books, published December 1978, →ISBN, page 427:
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(archaic, transitive) To reject, refuse, negate.
Certes (ſayd he) I n’ill thine offred grace, Ne to be made ſo happy doe intend[…].
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 280:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| nilling | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| nilled | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| nilled | Tense=Past | lexicographic | |
| nills | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| nould | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | obsolete | lexicographic |
| nould | Tense=Past | obsolete | lexicographic |