From Medieval Latin velleitas ('mere wish'), coined by scholastic philosophers from Latin velle ('to wish'), from PIE *welh₁- ('to wish, to choose'). The technical opposite of volition — wantingwithoutwilling. Same root as will, wealth, voluntary, and benevolent.
Definition
A wish or inclination so slight that it does not lead to action; the lowest degree of volition.
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Medieval Latin (via French)17th centurywell-attested
From Medieval Latin 'velleitas' ('mere wish, faint desire'), coined by scholastic philosophers from Latin 'velle' ('to wish, to will'), the irregular infinitive of the defective verb whose present tense is 'volō' ('I wish'). The suffix '-itas' (English '-ity') forms abstractnouns. Latin 'velle' derives from PIE *welh₁- ('to wish, to choose'), one of the most important roots in Indo-European, which also produced
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Velleity is the philosopher's word for the gapbetweenwanting and doing. Thomas Aquinas drew the distinction sharply: God, he argued, has no velleities — divine will is always perfectly enacted. Humans, by contrast, areriddled with them. Every New Year's resolution abandoned by January 15th is a velleity. The word is also a favourite of literary critics
English 'will' (OE willan), 'well' (as in 'well-being', OE wel = 'according to one's wish'), 'wealth' (originally 'well-being, prosperity'), German 'wollen' ('to want'), and — through Latin 'voluntās' — 'voluntary', 'volunteer', and 'benevolent'. The scholastics coined 'velleitas' specifically to