Etymologically
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unwilling

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Pronunciation

  • /ʌnˈwɪlɪŋ/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old English unwillende (“unwilling, not desiring or intending”),[2][3][4][5][6] formed from Old English un- + willende (“willing”), and is matched by Old Norse óviljandi and Middle Low German unwillendes.[2][3] The OED says the word was re-formed in the 16th century,[2] Hoad dates the new formation, from un- and willing, to the 16th century,[5] and Dictionary.com notes that the Old English form is not recorded in Middle English.[6] Etymonline instead dates the adjective to the early 15th century, as an altered form of unwilland, from the Old English word, or as a new formation from the same parts.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of persons, not intending or wishing to do something, in King Ælfred's translation of Gregory's Pastoral Care;[2][3] an Old English homily has "Ic hit unwillende dó", I do it unwillingly.[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, "not intending", died out by about 1330, while "reluctant, loath", also Old English, became the main one.[2][8] Followed by an infinitive (unwilling to go) it is recorded from 1533, in Thomas More.[2] In the 16th and 17th centuries it could also mean involuntary or unintentional (1535–1687),[2] as in Shakespeare's "'twas a fault unwilling",[9] and unwilling to could mean against the will of someone (1555–1654).[2] Shakespeare applied it to things in Venus and Adonis (1593);[2] from about 1617 it also described an act done reluctantly.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "loath; not contented; not inclined".[10] In the North Riding of Yorkshire the form annilling meant unrepentant.[11]

Timeline

  • Old English – not intending (obsolete by 1330); reluctant, loath.[2][3]
  • early 15th century – Etymonline's date for "loath, disinclined".[7]
  • 1533 – with an infinitive, unwilling to.[2]
  • 1535 – involuntary, unintentional (obsolete by 1687).[2]
  • 1555 – unwilling to, against the will of (obsolete by 1654).[2]
  • 1593 – of things (Shakespeare).[2]
  • ?1617 – of an act, done reluctantly.[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

  1. Not inclined or ready to do something; reluctant or averse: The landlord was unwilling to lower the rent.
  2. Done, given or said reluctantly: an unwilling apology.

Word family

  • unwillingly
  • unwillingness
  • willing
  • will
  • unwilled

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  3. ^ a b c d e Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
  4. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)