Dictionary.com 'Word of the Day' for Thursday, January 24, 2008
nolens volens \NO-lenz-VO-lenz\:
Whether unwilling or willing.
Beneath the surface, little-noticed but fundamental changes are taking place that must compel both sides, nolens volens, sooner or later to reconfigure their tortured but inseparable relationship.-- Bernard Wasserstein, Israelis and Palestinians
Events have put NATO in a position where it is the policeman of Europe and beyond, nolens volens.-- "NATO then Nato now", Daily Telegraph, April 23, 1999
After all, I'm not sure that I'm so angry with them, for it means that now you've got to remain here indefinitely -- nolens volens.-- Mina McDonald, "True Stories Of The Great War: Some Experiences In Hungary", History of the World, January 1, 1992
Nolens volens is from the Latin, from nolle, "to be unwilling" + velle, "to wish, to be willing."
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