Etymology

willingly

will·ing·ly
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Today it means: Of one’s own free will; freely and spontaneously. Full definition →

Middle English willyngly ← Old English willendlīċe
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The story

  1. Old English · inherited fromwillendlīċe“diligently”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromwillyngly
  3. English todaywillingly

From Middle English willyngly, wyllyngly (“intentionally, deliverately; freely, gladly”), from Old English willendlīċe (“diligently”), equivalent to willing + -ly.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.