Etymology

nolens volens

Today it means: Willing or unwilling; willy-nilly. Full definition →

Latin nōlēns
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromnōlēns“unwilling”
  2. English todaynolens volens

From Latin nōlēns (“unwilling”), from nōlō (“to be unwilling”) and volēns (“willing”), from volō (“to be willing, to want”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.