Nill

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɪl
• IPA: /nɪl/

From Middle English nillen, from Old English nillan, nellan, nyllan ("to be unwilling, refuse, prevent; not want to"), corresponding to ne + will. Cognate with Old Frisian nelle.

Full definition of nill

Verb

1. (modal auxiliary, obsolete) To be unwilling; will not (+ infinitive).
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.v:I here auow thee neuer to forsake.
  Ill weares he armes, that nill them vse for Ladies sake.
• 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, lxi:''What I nill tell you ask (quoth she) in vain,
• Nor mov'd by prayer, nor constrain'd by power.
2. (intransitive, archaic) To be unwilling.
• 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book II:with a lowde voys he cryed abyde knyght, for ye shal abyde whether ye will or nyll, and the sheld that is to fore you shalle not helpe.
• 1955, JRR Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Appendices):I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill.
3. (transitive, archaic) To reject, refuse, negate.
• 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.vii:Certes (said he) I n’ill thine offred grace,
  Ne to be made so happy do intend ....

Derived terms

• willy-nilly

Compare Irish and Gaelic neul star, light. Compare nebula.

Noun