Friday word: Velleity

[med_cat]

vel·le·i·ty

noun \ve-ˈlē-ə-tē, və-\

plural vel·le·i·ties

1: the lowest degree of volition

2: a slight wish or tendency : inclination

Etymology:

New Latin velleitas, from Latin velle to wish, will — more at will

First Known Use: 1618

 
And here's a charming poem by Ogden Nash (which is where I had first come across this word:)

WHEN THERE'S A WILL, THERE'S VELLEITY

Seated one day at the dictionary I was pretty weary and also pretty ill at ease,
Because a word I had always liked turned out not to be a word at all, and suddenly I found myself among the v's,
And suddenly among the v's I came across a new word which was a word called velleity,
So the new word I found was better than the old word I lost, for which I thank my tutelary deity,

Because velleity is a word which gives me great satisfaction,
Because do you know what it means, it means, low degree of volition not prompting to action,
And I always knew I had something holding me back but I didn't know what,
And it's quite a relief to know it isn't a conspiracy, it's only velleity that I've got,


( Because to be wonderful at everything has always been my ambition... )