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Origin and history of will

will(v.1)

"have desire" (for something, that something happen), Middle English willen, from Old English *willan, wyllan "to wish, desire; be willing; be used to; be about to" (past tense wolde), from Proto-Germanic *willjan, reconstructed in Watkins to be from PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will."

The use as a future auxiliary was developing in Old English. 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." In early use often -ile to preserve pronunciation. The form with an apostrophe ('ll) is from 17c.

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon willian, Old Norse vilja, Old Frisian willa, Dutch willen, Old High German wellan, German wollen, Gothic wiljan "to will, wish, desire," Gothic waljan "to choose."

PIE root *wel- (2) "to wish, will" also is given in Watkins as the reconstructed source of Sanskrit vrnoti "chooses, prefers," varyah "to be chosen, eligible, excellent," varanam "choosing;" Avestan verenav- "to wish, will, choose;" Greek elpis "hope;" Latin volo, velle "to wish, will, desire;" Old Church Slavonic voljo, voliti "to will," veljo, veleti "to command;" Lithuanian velyti "to wish, favor," pa-velmi "I will," viliuos "I hope;" Welsh gwell "better."

Compare also Old English wel "well," literally "according to one's wish;" wela "well-being, riches."

will(n.)

"the faculty of conscious deliberative action, volitional faculty of the soul," Middle English will, wil, wille, from Old English will, willa "mind, determination, purpose; desire, wish, request; joy, delight," from Proto-Germanic *wiljon-, a reconstructed noun related to *willan "to wish" (see will (v.1)).

The meaning "written document expressing a person's wishes about disposition of property after death" is recorded by late 14c., from the verb, on the notion of "signify or relate what is required to be done" (c. 1300).

At will "according to one's desires" is from c. 1300; to be made to do something against (one's) will also is from c. 1300.

Germanic cognates include Old Saxon willio, Old Norse vili, Old Frisian willa, Dutch wil, Old High German willio, German Wille, Gothic wilja "will."

will(v.2)

Old English willian "to determine by act of choice," from will (n.). From mid-15c. as "dispose of by will or testament." Often difficult to distinguish from will (v.1).

Entries linking to will

shall(v.)

Old English sceal, Northumbrian scule "I owe/he owes, will have to, ought to, must" (infinitive sculan, past tense sceolde), from *skulanan, a common Germanic preterite-present verb (along with can, may, will), from Proto-Germanic *skul- (source also of Old Saxon sculan, Old Frisian skil, Old Norse and Swedish skola, Middle Dutch sullen, Old High German solan, German sollen, Gothic skulan "to owe, be under obligation"). This is said to be related, via a past tense form, to Old English scyld "guilt," German Schuld "guilt, debt;" also Old Norse Skuld, name of one of the Norns.

These Germanic words are reconstructed (Watkins, Pokorny) to be from a PIE root *skel- (2) "to be under an obligation." The basic sense of the Germanic word probably was "I owe," hence "I ought." Cognates outside Germanic include Lithuanian skelėti "to be guilty," skilti "to get into debt;" Old Prussian skallisnan "duty," skellants "guilty." But Boutkan gives the group no PIE etymology and writes that the alleged root, limited as it is to Germanic and Balto-Slavic, "is likely to represent an innovation on the basis of North European substrate material."

Shall survives as an auxiliary. The original senses are obsolete; the meaning shifted in Middle English from obligation to include futurity. It has no participles, no imperative, and no infinitive. Its past-tense form has become should (q.v.) and has acquired special senses of its own.

benevolence(n.)

c. 1400, "disposition to do good," from Old French benivolence (Modern French bienveillance) and directly from Latin benevolentia "good feeling, good will, kindness," from bene "well" (see bene-) + volentem (nominative volens) present participle of velle "to wish" (see will (v.)).

In English history, this was the name given to forced extra-legal loans or contributions to the crown, first so called 1473 by Edward IV, who "asked" it as a token of good will toward his rule.

"Sensibility is not benevolence. Nay, by making us tremblingly alive to trifling misfortunes, it frequently precludes it .... Benevolence impels to action, and is accompanied by self-denial." [Coleridge quoted by Southey in "Omniana," 1812]