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free will

nounC1Not compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

Free will is the power to choose your own actions for yourself. Of her own free will, the question of free will, deny free will.

Of your own free will is the phrase in law and in consent, meaning nobody compelled you. As a question it is one of the oldest in philosophy, and neither the physicists nor the theologians have settled it.

Definitions of free will

  1. 1nounfree willThe power to choose your own actions for yourself.C1

    “Nobody forced him to sign; he did it of his own free will.”

free will is a power.

Where it comes from

Middle English fre will is free plus will, translating a Latin theological term.

  1. Middle English

    fre will

  2. English, today

    free will

From Middle English fre will, fre wil, fre wille.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

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