English

Verb

nill ‎(third-person singular simple present nills, present participle nilling, simple past nilled or (obsolete) nould, past participle nilled)

1. (modal auxiliary, obsolete) To be unwilling; will not (+ infinitive).
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, III.v:

     I here auow thee neuer to forsake. / Ill weares he armes, that nill them vse for Ladies sake.

   • 1600, Edward Fairfax, The Jerusalem Delivered of Tasso, XII, lxi:

     What I nill tell you ask (quoth she) in vain, / Nor mov'd by prayer, nor constrain'd by power.

2. (intransitive, archaic) To be unwilling.
   • 1903, A. W. Pollard (ed.), Le Morte d'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory (1485) , volume I, Bk. II, chapter V:

     So the knight of Ireland armed him at all points, […] , and rode after a great pace, as much as his horse might go; and within a little space on a mountain he had a sight of Balin, and with a loud voice he cried, Abide, knight, for ye shall abide whether ye will or nill, and the shield that is to-fore you shall not help.

     • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, chapter v, in Le Morte Darthur, book II:

     Soo the knyght of Irelonde armed hym at al poyntes / […] and rode after a grete paas as moche as his hors myght goo / and within a lytel space on a montayne he had a syghte of Balyn / and with a lowde voys he cryed abyde knyght / for ye shal abyde whether ye will or nyll / and the sheld that is to fore you shalle not helpe

   • 1955, J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings (Appendices):

     I must indeed abide the Doom of Men, whether I will or I nill.

3. (transitive, archaic) To reject, refuse, negate.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queen, II.vii:

     Certes (said he) I n’ill thine offred grace, / Ne to be made so happy do intend […].

Derived terms

• willy-nilly

Etymology 2

Compare Irish and Gaelic neul star, light. Compare nebula.

Noun

nill

1. Shining sparks thrown off from melted brass.
2. Scales of hot iron from the forge.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)