different between nall vs nill

English

Etymology

Either from Icelandic nál (“needle”), or from an awl, like newt, from ewt.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??l/

Noun

nall (plural nalls)

1. (obsolete, Britain, dialect) An awl.

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?l
• IPA^(key): /n?l/

Homophone: nil

Etymology 1

From Middle English nillen, from Old English nillan, nellan, nyllan (“to be unwilling, refuse, prevent; not want to”), corresponding to ne +? will. Cognate with Old Frisian nelle. Unrelated to Latin nolo which is constructed the same way, but the morphemes that compound both verbs are cognates.

Verb

nill (third-person singular simple present nills, present participle nilling, simple past and past participle nilled or (obsolete) nould)

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 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 […].

Derived terms

• willy-nilly

Etymology 2

Compare Irish and Gaelic neul star, light. Compare nebula.

Noun

nill

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

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)