Etymograph

English

wiln

Wiln comes from Middle English wilnen ‘to strongly desire’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘to wish, choose’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₁-1‘to wish, choose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiljô1‘wish, desire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*welnōną1‘to desire’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*welnōn1reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wilnian1‘to wish, long for, desire, will, beg for, supplicate, entreat, petition for, tend towards’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wilnen1‘to strongly desire’
  7. Englishtodaywiln1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English wiln

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*welh₁-Wiktionary, English wiln‘to wish, choose’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*wiljôWiktionary, English wiln‘wish, desire’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*welnōnąWiktionary, English wiln‘to desire’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*welnōnWiktionary, English wilnreconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150wilnianWiktionary, English wiln‘to wish, long for, desire, will, beg for, supplicate, entreat, petition for, tend towards’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500wilnenWiktionary, English wiln‘to strongly desire’
  7. EnglishtodaywilnWiktionary, English wiln

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- ‘to wish, choose’

well, volunteer, benevolent, malevolent, volition, voluptuous, wale, malevolence, 10 more

through Proto-Germanic *wiljô ‘wish, desire’

will

Today it means

verb To wish; desire.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “wiln”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *welh₁- / wiln

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