# 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: /ˈʋɪl.ə(n)/
* Audio:(file)
* Rhymes: -ɪlən

### Verb

willen
* (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?”)
* (modal) to want to, will, be willing to
    Hij wil gaan slapen. ― He wants to go to sleep.
* (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.”)
* (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.”)

#### Conjugation

* 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

* gewild
* willen zeggen
* willens en wetens

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

##### Conjugation

| infinitive | (to) willen, wille, wollen, wolle | (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 | wolde |
| imperative singular | — | — |
| plural$^1$ | willen, wille, wollen, wolle | wolden, wolde |
| imperative plural | — | — |
| participles | willynge, willende | — |
$^1$Sometimes used as a formal 2nd-person singular.

##### 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, […], [London: […] 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, wull, weel, will, ill, well

#### 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)
* 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
* present indicative/subjunctive plural of willen (“to want”)

## Old Dutch
### Etymology

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

### Verb

willen
* to want, to desire
* (auxiliary) to want to
* to wish

#### 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

## Old English
### Verb

willen
* plural present subjunctive of willan