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35,981 English word records · 45,491 etymology sections in this online subset
PARTIAL ENGLISH COVERAGE · FULL CORPUS REMAINS LOCAL6 source sections across 2 headwords matching “Willy”. These are separate from the reviewed results below.
WillyEnglish (en) · Unnumbered etymologySource text
Etymology tree English Will Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English Willy From Will + -y.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗willyEnglish (en) · Etymology 1Source text
From Middle English willy, willi, equivalent to will + -y. Cognate with Dutch willig (“obedient, hearsome”), German willig (“willing”), Swedish villig (“willing, agreeable”).
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗willyEnglish (en) · Etymology 2Source text
From Middle English wilȝe, from Old English wiliġ (“willow”). More at willow.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗willyEnglish (en) · Etymology 3Source text
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.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗willyEnglish (en) · Etymology 4Source text
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.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗willyEnglish (en) · Etymology 5Source text
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.
Original Wiktionary entry and references ↗INDEPENDENT SOURCE LIBRARY
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