▪ I. self-will, n.
[Com. Teut.: OE. selfwill = MLG. sulfwille, OHG. selb-, selpuuillo, -uuilli (cf. mod.Ger. selbstwille), ON. sjálfvili (cf. MSw. sialfsvili): see self- and will n., and cf. self-willy a.]
† 1. OE., ME. selfwilles (advb. gen.), voluntarily, of one's own accord; ME. of selfwill, without cause (cf. self-willy adv.). Obs.
Cf. OHG. pî selpwillin ‘ultro’, ON. með or at sjálfvilja.
| c 960 æthelwold Rule St. Benet (Schröer) vii, Se gæð sylfwilles twa mila, to anre ᵹeneadod. c 1000 ælfric Gram. xxxviii. (Z.) 234 Sponte, sylfwilles. Ibid. 237 Ultro, sylfwilles. a 1100 Leg. Rood (1871) 17 Drihten..þe on hire self willes þrowode. a 1340 Hampole Psalter lxviii. 5 Multiplide thai ere abouen the hares of my heued: that hatid has me of self⁓will. c 1380 Sir Ferumb. 221 Sire, wat hast þow þoȝt? Wilt þ{supu} silf willes lete þe slen? c 1420 Lydg. Assembly of Gods 120 Of verrey pure malyce and sylfe wyll. |
† 2. One's own will or desire. Obs.
In OE. only in phr. with prep.
| c 888 K. ælfred Boeth. xi. §1 Ᵹetæc me nu sumne mann þara ðe þe ᵹesæleᵹost þince & on his selfwille sy swiðost ᵹewiten. a 1000 Boeth. Metr. iv. 50 Ᵹif ðu nu, waldend, ne wilt wirde steoran ac on selfwille siᵹan lætest. c 1430 Syr Gener. (Roxb.) 3009 Whan I can not accused be By noo man but by your selfwil. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 199/23 We say..that a monk has na self will, bot anerly the will of his abbot. |
3. Wilful or obstinate persistence in following one's own desires or opinions.
| 14.. Why I can't be a Nun 195 in E.E.P. (1862) 143 Where that selfe-wylle ys reygnyng, The whyche causethe dyscord and debate, And resun hathe none enteryng. 1489 Caxton Faytes of A. i. xix. 61 So blynded that thy sellfwylle letteth the to submytte thy self to reason. 1514 Barclay Cyt. & Uplondyshm. (Percy Soc.) 28 All in selfewyll without reason they fyght. 1590 Sir J. Smyth Disc. Weapons 48 They are growen to such a selfe-wil and liking of their owne opinions. 1657 Baker's Sancta Sophia ii. ii. iii. §5 All the comfort of Nature lies in Selfe will. 1780 Cowper Progr. Err. 543 First appetite enlists him truth's sworn foe, Then obstinate self-will confirms him so. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. l, So totally unacquainted with contradiction, that she did not even use the tone of self-will. 1860 Pusey Min. Proph. 201 All idolatry is self-will, first choosing a god, and then enslaved to it. |
▪ II. † self-will, a. Obs.
[In OE. selfwille; in mod.E. prob. an adjectival use of self-will n. (cf. attrib. uses of self-love, self-pity).]
Self-willed.
1. (in OE.) Voluntary.
| a 1100 Gloss. Aldhelm De Laudibus Virg. (Napier) 236 Uoluntarie seruitutis, sylfwilles þeowdomes. Ibid. 1394 Spontaneo, .i. uoluntario, mid sylfwilre. |
2. Self-willed.
| 1552 R. Ascham Germany 9 Contemnyng easely all aduise of others (which selfe will condition doth commonly follow). 1562 Cooper Answ. Priv. Masse 122 They be selfwill moichers, they be not diligent scholers. 1581 W. Clarke in Confer. iv. (1584) C c ij b, All vnwritten and selfe will worshippings. 1598 R. Grenewey Tacitus, Ann. iv. v. 96 To single out a course..betweene selfewill stubbornes, and filthy flattery. [1719 J. T. Philipps tr. Thirty-Four Conf. 83 Their pretended meritorious Performances of Self-will Worship.] |