| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| will1 |
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| PRONUNCIATION: |  w l |
| NOUN: | 1a. The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action: championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination. b. The act of exercising the will. 2a. Diligent purposefulness; determination: an athlete with the will to win. b. Self-control; self-discipline: lacked the will to overcome the addiction. 3. A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority: It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared. 4. Deliberate intention or wish: Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will. 5. Free discretion; inclination or pleasure: wandered about, guided only by will. 6. Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition: full of good will. 7a. A legal declaration of how a person wishes his or her possessions to be disposed of after death. b. A legally executed document containing this declaration. | | VERB: | Inflected forms: willed, will·ing, wills
| | TRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To decide on; choose. 2. To yearn for; desire: “She makes you will your own destruction” (George Bernard Shaw). 3. To decree, dictate, or order. 4. To resolve with a forceful will; determine. 5. To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will: We willed the sun to come out. 6. To grant in a legal will; bequeath. | | INTRANSITIVE VERB: | 1. To exercise the will. 2. To make a choice; choose. | | IDIOM: | at will Just as or when one wishes. | | ETYMOLOGY: | Middle English, from Old English willa. See wel-1 in Appendix I.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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