willen

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch willen, from Old Dutch willen, from Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną, from Proto-Indo-European *welh₁-. The variant past forms with ou go back to early Middle Dutch wolde(n), following the regular shift old, olt > oud, out.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈʋɪl.ə(n)/

• audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪlən

Verb

willen

1. (transitive) to want, desire

   Ik wil een ijsje. ― I want icecream.

   Wil je dat ik langskom? ― Do you want me to come by? (literally, “Do you want that I come by?”)

2. (modal) to want to, will, be willing to

   Hij wil gaan slapen. ― He wants to go to sleep.

3. (ellipsis) to want to go somewhere (cf. English want in)

   Ze wilden het huis in. ― They wanted to get into the house. (literally, “They wanted into the house.”)

4. (in the past tense or conditional) to wish, would like, would (as in dated English I would that)

   Ik wou dat ik dat kon. ― I wish I could do that. (literally, “I would that I could that.”)

Inflection

• In the second-person singular present both jij wilt and jij wil are considered standard, the latter being more informal.
• In the third-person singular present only hij wil is standard, but hij wilt may be heard colloquially.
• In the past tense both wilde(n) and wou(den) are standard, the latter being more informal and perhaps somewhat regional. There is also a difference insofar as the singular wou is significantly more common than the corresponding plural wouden.

Derived terms

Descendants

• Afrikaans: wil
• Negerhollands: wil, wel
• Skepi Creole Dutch: wel, well, will

References

• Wilden / wouden / wouen (in Dutch), Genootschap Onze Taal

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Postposition

willen

1. Only used in um … willen

Related terms

• Wille, Willen

Further reading

• “willen” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache
• “willen” in Uni Leipzig: Wortschatz-Lexikon

Middle Dutch

Etymology

From Old Dutch willen, from Proto-West Germanic *willjan.

Verb

willen

1. to want, to desire
2. (auxiliary) to want to
3. to demand, to order

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Dutch: willen
  • Afrikaans: wil
  • Negerhollands: wil, wel
  • Skepi Creole Dutch: wel, well, will
• Limburgish: wille

Further reading

• “willen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E., Verdam, J. (1885–1929) “willen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

Middle English

Etymology 1

From Old English willan, wyllan (“to want, intend, be willing”), from Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną (“to want”).

Alternative forms

• wil, wille, wilen, welin, wole, wolle
• willian, wullen (early southwest Midlands)

Verb

willen (third-person singular simple present wille, present participle willynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle wolde)

2. to want something, wish for something
3. to be willing, consent, agree
4. to intend to do something, plan something
5. to mean, signify something
6. to direct, give directions
7. to require, demand, dictate
8. to be pleased with, like
9. (auxiliary) A modal verb with several meanings:
   1. Expresses purpose, intent: will
   2. Expresses willingness: will
   3. Expresses certainty: will
   4. Expresses habitual action: will
   5. Expresses ability, capability: will, can
   6. Expresses futurity: shall, will
   7. Expresses expectation, conjecture: will
   8. Expresses imminence, impendence: will, to be about to
   9. Expresses a suggestion, proposal: let's
   10. Expressing a modest, polite wish: would like
   11. Expresses hypotheticals: might
   12. Expresses possibility, probability: to be likely to, may

Conjugation

Quotations

• c. 1360s (date written)​, Geffray Chaucer [i.e., Geoffrey Chaucer], “The Romaunt of the Rose”, in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, , Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes , published 1542, →OCLC:

  I love no man in no gise, / That woll me reprove or chastise.

  (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

• English: will
• Scots: will, wil
• Yola: woul, weel, wull, well, will, ill

References

• “willen, v.(1).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 2

From Old Norse; cognate with Faroese, Icelandic villa (“to stray, err”).

Verb

willen (third-person singular simple present willeth, present participle willende, willynge, first-/third-person singular past indicative and past participle willed)

1. to go astray, wander, roam

References

• “willen, v.(2).”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

Etymology 3

Alternative forms

• wyll

Verb

willen

2. present indicative/subjunctive plural of willen (“to want”)

Old Dutch

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *willjan, from Proto-Germanic *wiljaną.

Verb

willen

1. to want, to desire
2. (auxiliary) to want to
3. to wish

Inflection

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

• Middle Dutch: willen
  • Dutch: willen
    • Afrikaans: wil
    • Negerhollands: wil, wel
    • Skepi Creole Dutch: wel, well, will
  • Limburgish: wille

Further reading

• “willen”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012