unˈwilling, ppl. a.
[OE. unwillende (un-1 10), = ON. and Icel. {uacu}-, óviljandi. Cf. MLG. unwillendes. Re-formed in 16th cent.]
† 1. Of persons: Not intending, purposing, or desiring (to do a particular thing). Obs.
| c 897 K. ælfred Gregory's Past C. xxxiii. 214 Ðæt hie [sc. the impatient] ne hliepen unwillende on ðæt scorene clif unðeawa. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 862 Wyþ þat schote his ffader he slow; Al unwylland þat draught he drow. |
2. Of persons, etc.: Not inclined, willing, or ready; averse, reluctant, loath. Also in fig. context.
In quot. 1606 the comparative is used with adverbial force, = more unwillingly.
| c 1000 in Ags. Hom. (Assmann) 180 Min drihten hit wat, þæt ic hit unwillende do, þæt ic æfre þas dæda ᵹefremme. |
| 1538 Elyot, Inuitus,..vnwyllynge, or agaynste a mannes wylle. 1586 Marlowe 1st Pt. Tamburl. ii. i, Marching..with vnwilling souldiers faintly arm'd. 1593 Shakes. Rich. II, i. iii. 245 You gaue leaue to my vnwilling tong, Against my will, to do my selfe this wrong. 1606 G. Woodcocke Hist. Ivstine ix. 40 To which request Phillip vrged he should of reason so much the vnwillinger condiscend. 1644 Milton Areop. (Arb.) 32 The tardiest, and the unwillingest of them that praise yee. 1746 Francis tr. Horace, Epist. i. viii. 9 With unwilling Ear The Voice of Comfort, or of Health I hear. 1761 Gray Descent of Odin 49 Unwilling I my lips unclose. 1817 Shelley Rev. Islam xi. xiv, On each unwilling heart Unusual awe did fall. 1849 James Woodman vii, Evidently intended to bring up unwilling eels out of their native mud. 1870 Bryant Iliad iv. I. 106, I fully yield me to thy wish Though with unwilling mind. 1897 Nicholson Golspie 22 This unwilling workman's curse lay on the family for ever. |
| absol. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. xxvii, Thus armed, thus governed, forcing the unwilling,..they came headlong towarde this lodge. a 1658 Lovelace Poems (1904) 193 Fates lead the willing, but unwilling draw. 1765 Blackstone Comm. I. 44 Counsel acts only upon the willing, law upon the unwilling also. |
b. Const. to with inf., or with clause.
In very frequent use from c 1630, usu. with to and inf.
| 1533 Sir T. More Debell. Salem Wks. 1030/2, I..shewe my selfe vnwilling that the priestes should doe it neither. 1548 Elyot s.v. Respuo, To be vnwillyng to here hym speake. a 1586 Sidney Arcadia ii. ix, And so went they away from verie unwilling people to leave them. 1618 Selden Hist. Tithes III. vi. 1114 Every man..would have been the unwillinger to have specially endowed the church. 1664 in Verney Memoirs (1907) II. 212, I am unwilling you should be soe much alone. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 115, I was unwilling to run any more risks. 1765 Museum Rust. IV. 287 We should be very unwilling to offend him. 1821 Scott Kenilw. vi, I own I were unwilling he should learn what nowise concerns him. 1878 Browning La Saisiaz 28 Then my fellow takes the tale up, not unwilling to aver..‘I knew him best of all’. |
c. transf. of things.
| 1592 Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 1051 Her eyes,..being open'd, threw unwilling light Upon the wide wound..in his soft flank. 1593 ― Lucr. 309 As each unwilling portal yields him way. 1692 Dryden Don Sebastian iii. i, Why shou'd you pluck the green distasteful Fruit From the unwilling Bough. 1697 ― Virg. Georg. i. 144 For he, with frequent exercise, commands The unwilling soil, and tames the stubborn lands. 1704 Trapp Abra-Mulé ii. i. 416 A stiff unwilling Bow. 1748 Gray Alliance 43 There industry and gain their vigils keep, Command the Winds, and tame th' unwilling Deep. 1848 Mrs. Gaskell Mary Barton iv, She..lighted the unwilling fire, borrowing a pair of bellows to make it burn the faster. 1896 Idler March 291/2, I..pushed open the unwilling baize-covered door. |
† 3. Undesirous of something. Obs. rare.
| a 1575 tr. Pol. Verg. Eng. Hist. (Camden, No. 29) 54 Neyther partie was unwilling of peace. 1590 Peele Polyhemnia Wks. 1829 II. 210 On lusty horse That, angry with delay,.. Would snort,..Unwilling of his master's tarriance. |
† 4. unwilling to (unwilling unto), contrary to the will or desire of (a person). Obs. rare.
| 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 334 They shall not touche any thynge of yowres vnwyllyng vnto yow. 1654 Gayton Pleas. Notes iv. 171 Your hair (unwilling to your self) discovers you. |
† 5. Involuntary; unintentional; unwilled. Obs.
| 1535 Trevisa's Barth. De P.R. vii. lv. 105 b/2 Somtyme comyth vnwyllynge pyssynge, and that euyll hyghte..Diabethica passio. 1587 Golding De Mornay 519 This high preest shalbe the..speech of God, cleere from sinne aswel willing as vnwilling. 1596 Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 159 Patience I pray you, 'twas a fault vnwilling. 1687 Dryden Hind & P. iii. 842 Good fortune may present some happier time, With means to cancel my unwilling crime. |
6. Performed or manifested, expressed or avowed, reluctantly or unwillingly.
| 1613 in Sidney's Arcadia (1629) 343 Then went hee towards Pyrocles..and acquainted him with his vnwilling absenting himselfe. 1659 W. Chamberlayne Pharon. iv. v. 403 That soft delays..to an unwilling stay His fierce pursuers would ere long betray. 1665 Bp. Patrick Parab. Pilgr. viii. 29 It can [not] be acceptable to God to see men croutch in this fashion to him, and..afford him their unwilling prostrations. 1741 W. Whitehead Danger Writing Verse 235 Must the Muse th' unwilling task pursue? 1764 Goldsm. Trav. 352 Fictitious bonds, the bonds of wealth and law, Still gather strength, and force unwilling awe. 1822 Milman Belshazzar 93 Oh! bear a brief unwilling banishment From thine own home, my heart. 1855 Macaulay Hist. Eng. xv. III. 529 That sagacity and energy which had..extorted the unwilling admiration of his enemies. |