willy.
Willing; favourable; ready; eager.
Meaning & usage
Willing; favourable; ready; eager.
Self-willed; willful.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English willy, willi, equivalent to will + -y. Cognate with Dutch willig (“obedient, hearsome”), German willig (“willing”), Swedish villig (“willing, agreeable”).
To cleanse wool or cotton, etc. with a willy, or willow.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English wilȝe, from Old English wiliġ (“willow”). More at willow.
A willow basket.
A fish basket.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English wilie, from Old English wiliġe (“wicker basket”), from Proto-West Germanic *wiligijā, from Proto-Indo-European *weliko- (“willow-tree”). More at weel, willow.
The penis.
Little Johnny got his willy stuck in his zipper.
A term of abuse.
You're a big fat willy! So shut up!!
Where this word comes from
Originally northern British usage, from the 1960s. Probably the simple use of a proper name as a pet name; compare dick, fanny and peter. Unlikely to be a contraction of Latin membrum virile, male member (that is, the penis), a Latin term used in English in the 19th century.
A person who is manipulated into serving as a useful agent without knowing it.
Where this word comes from
Perhaps a shortening of willy-nilly, an old way of saying “whether one wants to or not”, here referring to the person being used as an agent without their knowledge, i.e. regardless of their will.
Alternative form of willow.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English wilȝe, from Old English wiliġ (“willow”). More at willow.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.