willpower

See also: will power

English

Alternative forms

• will power, will-power

Etymology

Etymology tree

English will

Proto-Indo-European *pótis

Proto-Italic *potis

Proto-Indo-European *h₁es-

Proto-Indo-European *h₁ésti

Proto-Indo-European *bʰuH-

Proto-Indo-European *-t

Proto-Indo-European *bʰúHt

Proto-Italic *som

Proto-Italic *possom

Latin posseder.

Vulgar Latin potēre

Old French pooir

Anglo-Norman poerbor.

Middle English power

English power

English willpower

From will + power.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪlˌpaʊɚ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈwɪlˌpaʊə(ɹ)/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

willpower (countable and uncountable, plural willpowers)

1. The unwavering strength of will to carry out one's wishes.
   • 1900, Grant Allen, Arthur Conan Doyle, Hilda Wade:

     "A remarkable woman, gentlemen," said he, "a very noteworthy woman. I had prided myself that my willpower was the most powerful in the country--I had never met any to match it--but I do not mind admitting that, for firmness and tenacity, this lady is my equal. ...

Translations

strength of will

• Albanian: zë
• Bashkir: ихтыяр көсө (extıyar küsü)
• Belarusian: сі́ла во́лі f (síla vóli)
• Bikol:

  Central Bikol: boot (bcl)

• Bulgarian: си́ла на во́ля f (síla na vólja)
• Catalan: força de voluntat f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 意志力 (zh) (yìzhìlì), 意志 (zh) (yìzhì), 精神力 (jīngshénlì)

• Czech: síla vůle f
• Danish: viljekraft c, viljestyrke (da) c
• Dutch: wilskracht (nl) m or f
• Esperanto: volpovo, volforto
• Estonian: tahtejõud (et)
• Finnish: tahdonvoima, sisu (fi)
• French: volonté (fr) f
• German: Willensstärke (de) f, Willenskraft (de) f
• Greek: θεληματικότητα f (thelimatikótita), δύναμη θέλησης f (dýnami thélisis)
• Hindi: आत्मबल (hi) (ātmabal), इच्छाशक्ति (icchāśakti)
• Hungarian: akaraterő (hu)
• Italian: forza d'animo f, forza di volontà (it) f
• Japanese: 意志力 (いしりょく, ishiryoku), 気力 (ja) (きりょく, kiryoku), 意力 (ja) (いりょく, iryoku), 精神力 (ja) (せいしんりょく, seishinryoku)
• Korean: 의지력(意志力) (uijiryeok), 정신력(精神力) (jeongsillyeok)
• Latin: voluntas
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: viljestyrke m

  Nynorsk: viljestyrke m

• Persian: عزم راسخ ('azm-e râsex)
• Polish: siła woli f
• Portuguese: força de vontade (pt) f, determinação (pt) f
• Romanian: propria voință f
• Russian: си́ла во́ли (ru) f (síla vóli)
• Slovak: sila vôle f
• Spanish: fuerza de voluntad f, fuerza volitiva f
• Swedish: viljestyrka (sv)
• Ukrainian: си́ла во́лі f (sýla vóli)

See also

• self-control
• fighting spirit