nill
see also: Nill
Pronunciation Verb

nill (nills, present participle nilling; past nilled, 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 Torquato 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.
    • 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 […].
Noun

nill

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

Nill
Proper noun
  1. Surname



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