Meanings
- archaicuncountableThe state of being unwilling; nolition.
He demeriteth ipso facto any Ecclesiastical dignity, that receiveth it not with some nolleity & reluctancie.
1662, The Merit and Honour Of the Old English Clergy […], page [8]2 more examples
For the latter, it is true indeed, that for the most part it falls out, that every one that is to be punished is unwilling to undergoe it, and there is an improper nolleity (if I may so speak) in nature, unto the subtracting of any good from it, or the immission of any evill upon it; […]
1655, John Owen, Vindiciæ Evangelicæ […], page 484In ordinary places, which are dependent on the personal offerings of the worshippers, the virtue of voluntaryism is eclipsed by the vice of nolleity.
1869 October, “Church Finance”, in The General Baptist Magazine, volume 71, number 34, page 315
Origin
- Medieval Latinnolleitās
- Englishnolleity
Borrowed from Medieval Latin nolleitās, from nolle (“to be unwilling”) + -ity. Formed on the model of velleity.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
nolleity. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nolleity
“nolleity.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nolleity. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “nolleity,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/nolleity.
Source: nolleity on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.