† volencyn.
Obsolete. rare.
The power of willing or determining to act in a certain way.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > will > free will > [noun]
freedomeOE
free will1340
arbitryc1374
advisementa1398
freedom of will?c1400
liberty?c1400
wilfulnessc1460
liberal arbitre?1483
contingencec1530
indifferencya1555
contingency1561
freedom of thought1591
self-willingness1591
volunt1611
voluntariness1643
uncommandedness1646
autexousy1678
volency1686
inconditionality1696
unconditionalitya1714
indifference1728
volition1738
vacancy1754
voluntarity1794
autonomy1803
unconditionalness1843
unconditionedness1854
1686 H. More Let. 22 Feb. in J. Norris Theory & Regulation Love (1688) 208 Nor can [I] conceive but that the free Agency we are conscious to our selves of, is placed in the Soul as Volent as much as Intelligent, because this Volency, as I may so speak, is implyed in her Attention or Advertency.
1768 A. Tucker Light of Nature (1834) I. 552 This is another kind of agency,..and for distinction sake we shall beg leave to call it free volency (for the speculative will allow one another to coin a word upon occasion): so the question is not whether a man be a free agent but a free volent.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1920; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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