Wiktionary

willen

See also: Willen

Dutch

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Etymology

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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

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  • IPA(key): /ˈʋɪl.ə(n)/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɪlən

Verb

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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

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Conjugation of willen (irregular)
infinitive willen
past singular wilde, wou
past participle gewild
infinitive willen
gerund willen n
present tense past tense
1st person singular wil wilde, wou
2nd person sing. (jij) wilt, wil wilde, wou
2nd person sing. (u) wilt, wil wilde, wou
2nd person sing. (gij) wilt wilde, woudt
3rd person singular wil wilde, wou
plural willen wilden, wouden
subjunctive sing.1 wille wilde, woude
subjunctive plur.1 willen wilden, wouden
imperative sing. wil
imperative plur.1 wilt
participles willend gewild
1) Archaic.
  • 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

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Descendants

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

References

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German

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Pronunciation

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Postposition

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willen

  1. Only used in um … willen
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Further reading

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

Middle Dutch

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Etymology

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

Verb

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willen

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

Inflection

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This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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Further reading

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Middle English

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Etymology 1

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

Alternative forms

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Verb

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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
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Conjugation of willen (irregular, defective)
infinitive (to) willen, wille, wollen, wolle
present tense past tense
1st-person singular wille, wolle wolde
2nd-person singular wilt, wolt woldest, wolde
3rd-person singular wille, wolle wolde
subjunctive singular wille
imperative singular — —
plural1 willen, wille, wollen, wolle wolden, wolde
imperative plural — —
participles willynge, willende —

1Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

Quotations
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Descendants
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References

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Etymology 2

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

Verb

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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

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Etymology 3

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Alternative forms

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Verb

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willen

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

Old Dutch

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Etymology

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

Verb

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willen

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

Inflection

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This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Descendants

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Further reading

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  • “willen”, in Oudnederlands Woordenboek, 2012
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