will

Etymology 1

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”). Cognate with Dutch willen, Low German willen, German wollen, Swedish and Norwegian Nynorsk vilja, Norwegian Bokmål ville, Latin velle (“wish”, verb) and Albanian vel (“to satisfy, be stuffed”). The verb is not always distinguishable from Etymology 3, below.

verb

1. (auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
   One of our salesmen will visit you tomorrow.
   I will pass this exam.
2. (auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
   Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.
3. (auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".
   He will be home by now. He always gets home before 6 o'clock.
   I can't find my umbrella. I will have forgotten it home this morning.
   “That will be five zloty.” I reached into my pocket and came up with some coins. 2007, Edward Jesko, The Polish
   Unless she diverted on the ten minute walk home, she’ll have got home at about half past. 2012, Penny Freedman, All The Daughters
4. (auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
   Boys will be boys.
   How telling is it that many women will volunteer for temporary disablement by wearing high heeled shoes that hobble them? 2009, Stephen Bayley, The Telegraph, 24 Sep 09
   So far neither side has scored a decisive victory, though each will occasionally claim one. 2011, “Connubial bliss in America”, in The Economist
5. (auxiliary) To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in questions and negation.
   Will you marry me?
   I’ve told him three times, but he won’t take his medicine.
6. (now uncommon or literary, transitive) To wish, desire (something).
   Do what you will.
   If thou wilt fare well at meat and meal, come and follow me. c. 1450, The Macro Plays
   Twelfe Night, Or what you will (original spelling) 1601, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night, or What You Will
   Grant what Thou dost command, and command what Thou wilt. 1944, St. Augustine, translated by FJ Sheed, Confessions
7. (now rare, intransitive) To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).
8. (archaic) Implying will go.

Etymology 2

From Middle English wille, from Old English willa (compare verb willian), from Proto-Germanic *wiljô (“desire, will”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, wish”). Cognate with Dutch wil, German Wille, Swedish vilja, Norwegian vilje.

noun

1. One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
   Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason.
2. The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
   Most creatures have a will to live.
   The episode’s unwillingness to fully commit to the pathos of the Bart-and-Laura subplot is all the more frustrating considering its laugh quota is more than filled by a rollicking B-story that finds Homer, he of the iron stomach and insatiable appetite, filing a lawsuit against The Frying Dutchman when he’s hauled out of the eatery against his will after consuming all of the restaurant’s shrimp (plus two plastic lobsters). May 27, 2012, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club
3. One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
   Eventually I submitted to my parents' will.
4. Firmity of purpose, fixity of intent
   Thus Mill’s case for the claim that happiness is the sole human end, put more carefully, is this: ‘Whatever is desired otherwise than as a means to some end beyond itself, and ultimately to happiness, is desired as itself a part of happiness, and is not desired for itself until has become so’ (1861a: 237). Nothing here assumed Hume’s view that every action must ultimately flow from an underived desire. That is a quite separate issue, and Mill’s view of it is closer to that of Kant or Reid than to that of Hume. He insists ‘positively and emphatically’ that the will is a different thing from desire; that a person of confirmed virtue, or any other person whose purposes are fixed, carries out his purposes without any thought of the pleasure he has in contemplating them, or expects to derive from their fulfilment. (1861a: 238) This distinction between purpose and desire is central to Mill’s conception of the will. When we develop purposes we can will against mere likings or aversions: ‘In the case of an habitual purpose, instead of willing the thing because we desire it, we often desire it only because we will it’ (1861a: 238). Every action is caused by a motive, but not every motive is a liking or aversion: When the will is said to be determined by motives, a motive does not mean always, or solely, the anticipation of a pleasure or of a pain…. A habit of willing is commonly called a purpose; and among the causes of our volitions, and of the actions which flow from them, must be reckoned not only likings and aversions, but also purposes. (1843: 842) The formation of purposes from desires is the evolution of will; it is also the development of character. Mill quotes Novalis: ‘a character is a completely fashioned will’ (1843: 843). 1998, John Skorupski,, Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Mill, John Stuart (1806–73)
   ...surely the link could not have been with Churchill the brilliant, gallant and steadfast wartime leader who, by dint of character, will and language, turned near defeat into victory. 2015, Dr. Harlan K. Ullman, Huffington Post 31 May 2015., "Winston Spencer Ghani"
5. (law) A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.
   “Uncle Barnaby was always father and mother to me,” Benson broke in; then after a pause his mind flew off at a tangent. “Is old Hannah all right—in the will, I mean?” 1928, Lawrence R. Bourne, chapter 1, in Well Tackled!
6. (archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.
7. (archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)
   He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.

Etymology 3

From Middle English willen, from Old English willian (“to will”), from Proto-West Germanic *willjōn (“to will”), from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- (“to choose, wish”). Cognate with German Low German willen, German willen. The verb is not always distinguishable from Etymology 1, above.

verb

1. (transitive, intransitive) To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
2. (transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).
   He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.
3. (transitive) To exert one's force of will (intention) in order to compel, or attempt to compel, something to happen or someone to do something.
   All the fans were willing their team to win the game.