willing

Etymology

It is formed from English will + -ing, from the present participle of the verb.^[2][3][4][5] The OED takes the verb to be partly the one meaning "to wish, desire" and partly the one meaning "to determine by choice", which is derived from the noun.^[2][4] The verb is from Middle English willen (“to be willing”),^[5][4] from Old English willan (“to wish, desire”),^[4][6] from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną,^[1] from Proto-Indo-European *wel- (“to wish, will”).^[4][6] The adjective has no certain record in Old English, where according to the Shorter Oxford it is found only with a prefix,^[3] and Etymonline notes -willendliche in compounds;^[4] the OED compares the earlier unwilling, and finds the sense of willende in “Genesis B” uncertain and disputed.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Ready to do something, having no objection: before 1325, in Judas Iscariot.^[2] The 1989 edition of the OED had a record from before 1300 in attributive use,^[7] and Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century.^[4] Dictionary.com gives 1250–1300,^[8] Hoad the 13th century,^[9] and Merriam-Webster the 14th century.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "desirous, wishing", now gone, ran from before 1425 to 1825.^[2] The main sense, consent without reluctance, gained an extended use for what is given or done readily, as in Macaulay's "willing obedience", from 1531,^[2][3] and a figurative one for things: compliant, or of the wind favourable, in Dunbar.^[2] Etymonline dates "prompt and ready in action" to the 1560s.^[4] From 1550 it could also mean done of one's own will, voluntary.^[2] From 1600 it could mean capable of exercising the will.^[2] Johnson (1755) sets out "inclined to any thing", "pleased; desirous", "favourable" and "ready; complying".^[10] In Australian and New Zealand slang willing means pugnacious or hard-fought, recorded from 1900, as in a willing go, a tough boxing match.^[11] In west Cornwall a willing liar told a needless, premeditated falsehood, and in Scots willing sweert meant half-willing, coy.^[12]

Timeline

• before 1325 – ready to do something, without objection.^[2]
• c. 1384 – adverb, willingly, in the Wycliffite Bible.^[2]
• before 1400 – placed before the noun, in the Cursor Mundi.^[2]
• before 1425 – desirous, inclined (obsolete by 1825).^[2]
• before 1513 – of things, compliant; of the wind, favourable.^[2]
• 1531 – given or performed readily.^[2]
• 1548 – noun, the willing, those who are willing.^[2]
• 1550 – voluntary, intentional.^[2][7]
• 1578 – willing or nilling, with or against one's will.^[2]
• c. 1580 – willing horse, someone ready to work or to take trouble.^[7]
• 1600 – exercising the will, volitional.^[2]
• 1900 – Australian slang, aggressive, hard-fought.^[11]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Ready to do something without objecting; favourably disposed: He was willing to drive them to the airport.^[5][2][3]
2. Ready and prompt to act or help; not slow or reluctant: a crew of willing volunteers.^[5][3]
3. Given, done or undergone readily: their willing cooperation.^[2][3]
4. Of a thing, compliant or yielding; of the wind, favourable.^[2][3]
5. Done of one's own will; voluntary or deliberate.^[2][3]
6. Exercising the will; volitional.^[2][7]
7. (Australia and New Zealand, slang) Pugnacious, aggressive; of a fight, hard-fought.^[11]
8. Desirous; inclined (obsolete, before 1425–1825).^[2][3]

Adverb

1. Willingly, without reluctance (archaic or colloquial).^[5][2]

Noun

1. the willing: someone who is willing, or those who are.^[2]

Word family

• willingly
• willingness
• overwilling
• unwilling

Related words

• will
• willy-nilly
• willful

Usage notes

The verbal noun willing, the exercise of the will, is a separate formation with the other suffix -ing: it goes back to Old English willung, and is used in the phrase show willing.^[5][9][3] As "desire, longing" it is archaic,^[5] and it has also meant bequeathing by will since 1797.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b 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 r s t u v w x y z 27 28 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
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. ^ a b c Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
12. ^ 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)