nolleity

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin nolleitās, from nolle (“to be unwilling”) + -ity. Formed on the model of velleity.

Noun

nolleity (uncountable)

1. (archaic) The state of being unwilling; nolition.
   • 1655, John Owen, Vindiciæ Evangelicæ […]‎^[1], page 484:

     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; […]

   • 1662, The Merit and Honour Of the Old English Clergy […]‎^[2], page [8]:

     He demeriteth ipso facto any Ecclesiastical dignity, that receiveth it not with some nolleity & reluctancie.

   • 1869 October, “Church Finance”, in The General Baptist Magazine, volume 71, number 34, page 315:

     In ordinary places, which are dependent on the personal offerings of the worshippers, the virtue of voluntaryism is eclipsed by the vice of nolleity.

Further reading

• “nolleity”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.