wilfully, adv.
(ˈwɪlfʊlɪ)
Forms: see wilful a.1
[Late OE. wilfull{iacu}ce, f. *wilfull wilful a.1 (cf. OE. carfull careful, carfull{iacu}ce carefully): see -ly2.]
† 1. Willingly, readily, without reluctance; patiently, submissively (with suffer, etc.); gladly, ‘fain’ (with will vb. expressing desire: cf. 3). Obs.
| a 1100 Gloss. ælfric's Colloq. 146 (Napier 225/1) Uolenter, wilful[lice]. a 1240 Wohunge in O.E. Hom. I. 279 Alle þat clenli for þi luue mesaise and pouerte wilfulliche þolien. 1357 Lay Folks' Catech. (L.) 1100 Men schuld wilfully fede pore hungry men and þrusty. 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 172 He serwyt ay lelely; And the tothir full wilfully,..Rewardyt him weile his seruice. 1382 Wyclif Acts xxi. 17 Whanne we camen to Jerusalem, bretheren resceyueden vs wilfulli. c 1460 Godstow Reg. 132 Mansel..willid & acceptid wilfulli þe gifte þat Raph bloet made to þe church. 1493 Festivall (W. de W. 1515) 9 He must..suffre trybulacyon mekely, and do almes dedes wylfully. 1513 Douglas æneis viii. iii. 89 Wilfully I obey thair command. |
† b. With good will, heartily; ‘with a will’.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce ii. 386 And with that word sa wilfully He dang on. Ibid. viii. 462 Thai..prikit furth sa vilfully To vyn the ladis at thai saw pass. c 1430 Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 7 First understond, and willfully procede. |
† 2. Of one's own free will, of one's own accord, voluntarily. Rarely in reference to an inanimate thing: Spontaneously, ‘of itself’. Obs.
| c 1000 in Haupt's Zeitschr. f. deutsches Alt. IX. 435/2 Sponte, wilful[l]ice. 1357 Lay Folks' Catech. (L.) 1163 How moche more be þei cursyd of god; þat bynde hem-self wil⁓fully. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xx. 48 Syth he þat wrouȝte al þe worlde was wilfullich nedy. c 1400 Mandeville xvi. (1839) 176 Hem that sleen hem self wilfully, for love of here Ydole. a 1425 tr. Arderne's Treat. Fistula etc. 87 If þe puluis putte in go willfully out with þe dede flesch þi nedez is wele sped. c 1440 Gesta Rom. lxiv. 277 (Add. MS.) Do of thi clothes wilfully, or thou shalt agayn thi wille. a 1536 Tindale Exam. W. Thorpe in Foxe A. & M. (1563) 155/1 The night before y{supt} Christ Jesu wold suffer wilfullye passion for mankinde. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. i. 15 She wilfully her sorrow did augment. 1642 Fuller Holy & Prof. St. v. xi. 403 Martyrs are to die willingly but not wilfully. 1705 Clarke Disc. Nat. Relig. (1706) 103 A Man is obliged not to depart wilfully out of this Life, which is the general Station that God has appointed him. |
† b. According to one's own will; at will, freely. Obs.
| 1340–70 Alex. & Dind. 604 But ȝe, folliche folk ȝour fals godus alle Wil-fully worschipen wiþ wordliche godus. c 1350 Will. Palerne 1782 To me tended þei nouȝt bot tok forþ here wey wilfulli to sum wildernesse. c 1475 Partenay 327 Ouer all thys hors so went wylfully here and there ouer all where at hys lust wold. c 1600 Shakes. Sonn. lxxx. 8 But since your worth (wide as the Ocean is) The humble as the proudest saile doth beare, My sawsie barke (inferior farre to his) On your broad maine doth wilfully appeare. |
† 3. With desire, longingly. Obs. rare.
| c 1350 Will. Palerne 3300 Þat quen & hire douȝter & meliors þe schene wayteden out at a windowe wilfulli in-fere. c 1611 Chapman Iliad viii. 497 And all did wilfully expect, the siluer-throned morne. |
4. Purposely, on purpose, by design, intentionally, deliberately. Chiefly, now always, in bad sense (cf. wilful a.1 5); often with admixture of, or passing into, sense 5; occas. implying ‘maliciously’.
| c 1374 Chaucer Troylus ii. 284 Yf þat he wole take of it no cure, Whan þan it cometh, but wylfully it weyuen. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xvii. 285 How myȝte he axe mercy, or any mercy hym helpe, Þat wykkedlich & willefullich wolde mercy anynte? c 1400 Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton) ii. li. (1859) 54 He that wylfully deceyued hym self, who may hym releue of myschyef? 1477 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 184/2 Money so molten, beten or wilfully broken. 1526 R. Whitford Martiloge 67 b, The feest also of saynt Dace bysshop of mylen, y{supt} in his journey toward constantynople was wylfully lodged in a hous y{supt} was occupyed w{supt} wycked spirytes. 1617 J. Taylor (Water P.) Three Weekes Observ. C 3, For those that set houses on fire wilfully, they are smoked to death. 1726 G. Shelvocke Voy. round World (1757) 242 Deaf to all I could say, and so wilfully insensible of the impendant destruction. 1819 Scott Ivanhoe xliv, His administration was wilfully careless, now too indulgent, and now allied to despotism. 1849 Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 545 Instead of the money came excuses..which ought to have opened the eyes of all who were not wilfully blind. 1879 Cassell's Techn. Educ. viii. 107 A mill containing 500 of his looms was wilfully burnt down. 1911 Ac. 1 & 2 Geo. V c. 6 §1 If any person lawfully sworn as a witness..wilfully makes a statement..which he knows to be false. |
5. In a self-willed manner, perversely, obstinately, stubbornly.
| a 1586 Sidney Arcadia i. v. (1912) 33 The mother..beyng determinately (least I shoulde say of a great Lady, wilfully) bent to marrie her to Demagoras. Ibid. ii. xiii. 232 Now so evill could she conceale her fire, and so wilfully persevered she in it, that [etc.]. 1595 Shakes. John iii. i. 142, I..demand Why thou against the Church, our holy Mother, So wilfully dost spurne. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 654/1 Surely of such desperat persons as will willfully followe the course of theyr owne follye, there is noe compassion to be had. a 1694 Tillotson Serm., Luke xii. 47, 48 Wks. 1717 I. 425 He that first acknowledgeth him for his Prince, and then affronts him, deserves to be prosecuted with the utmost severity, because he did it wilfully, and in meer contempt. 1726– [see 4]. |