noun.
An abbreviation of the personal name William.
Astray; wrong; at a loss; bewildered.
A As an independent verb.
To wish; desire; want; be willing to have (a certain thing done): now chiefly used in the subjunctive (optative) preterit form would governing a clause: as, I would that the day were at hand. When in the first person the subject is frequently omitted: as, would that ye had listened to us!
Would in optative expressions is often followed by a dative, with or without to, noting the person or power by whom the wish may be fulfilled: hence the phrases would (to) God, would (to) heaven, etc.
To have a wish or desire; be willing.
B. As an auxiliary, followed by an infinitive without to.
To wish, want, like, or agree (to do, etc.); to be (am, is, are, was, etc.) willing (to do, etc.): noting desire, preference, consent, or, negatively, refusal.
To be (am, is, are, etc.) determined (to do, etc.): said when one insists on or persists in being or doing something; hence, must, as a matter of will or pertinacity; do (emphatic auxiliary) from choice, wilfulness, determination, or persistence.
To make (it) a habit or practice (to do, etc.); be (am, is, are, etc.) accustomed (to do, etc.); do usually: noting frequent or customary action.
To be (am, is, are, etc.) sure (to do, etc.); do undoubtedly, inevitably, or of necessity; ought or have (to do, etc.); must: used in incontrovertible or general statements, and often, especially in provincial use, forming a verbphrase signifying no more than the simple verb: as, I'm thinking this will be (that is, this is) your daughter.
To be (am, is, are, etc.) ready or about (to do, etc.): said of one on the point of doing something not necessarily accomplished.
In future and conditional constructions, to be (am, is, are, etc.) (to do, etc.): in general noting in the first person a promise or determination, and in the second and third mere assertion of a future occurrence without reference to the will of the subject, other verb-phrases being compounded with the auxiliary shall. For a more detailed discrimination between will and shall, see shall, B., 2.
In such constructions will is sometimes found where precision would require shall. See shall, B., final note.
[Would is often used for will in order to avoid a dogmatic style or to soften blunt or harsh assertions, questions, etc.
In all its senses the auxiliary will may be used with an ellipsis of the following infinitive.
To wander; go astray; be lost, at a loss, or bewildered.
To wish; desire.
To communicate or express a wish to; desire; request; direct; tell; bid; order; command.