Will vs. Must — What's the Difference?
Difference Between Will and Must
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Compare with Definitions
Will
The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action
Championed freedom of will against a doctrine of predetermination.
Must
Must (from the Latin vinum mustum, "young wine") is freshly crushed fruit juice (usually grape juice) that contains the skins, seeds, and stems of the fruit. The solid portion of the must is called pomace and typically makes up 7–23% of the total weight of the must.
Will
Diligent purposefulness; determination
An athlete with the will to win.
Must
To be obliged or required by morality, law, or custom
Citizens must register in order to vote.
Will
Self-control; self-discipline
Lacked the will to overcome the addiction.
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Must
To be compelled, as by a physical necessity or requirement
Plants must have oxygen in order to live.
Will
A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority
It is the sovereign's will that the prisoner be spared.
Must
Used to express a command or admonition
You must not go there alone. You simply must be careful.
Will
Deliberate intention or wish
Let it be known that I took this course of action against my will.
Must
To be determined to; have as a fixed resolve
If you must leave, do it quietly.
Will
Free discretion; inclination or pleasure
Wandered about, guided only by will.
Must
Used to indicate inevitability or certainty
We all must die.
Will
Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition
Full of good will.
Must
Used to indicate logical probability or presumptive certainty
If the lights were on, they must have been at home.
Will
A legal declaration of how a person wishes their personal possessions to be disposed of after death.
Must
To be required or obliged to go
"I must from hence" (Shakespeare).
Will
A legally executed document containing this declaration.
Must
Something that is absolutely required or indispensable
Promptness on the job is a must. Comfortable boots are a must when going on a hike.
Will
To decide on or intend
He can finish the race if he wills it.
Must
The quality or condition of being stale or musty.
Will
To yearn for; desire
“She makes you will your own destruction” (George Bernard Shaw).
Must
The unfermented or fermenting juice expressed from fruit, especially grapes.
Will
To decree, dictate, or order
Believed that the outcome was willed by the gods.
Must
Variant of musth.
Will
To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will
We willed the sun to come out.
Must
Musk.
Will
To grant in a legal will; bequeath
Willed his fortune to charity.
Must
To do with certainty; indicates that the speaker is certain that the subject will have executed the predicate.
If it has rained all day, it must be very wet outside.
You picked one of two, and it wasn't the first: it must have been the second.
Will
To order to direct in a legal will
She willed that her money be given to charity.
Must
To do as a requirement; indicates that the sentence subject is required as an imperative or directive to execute the sentence predicate, with failure to do so resulting in a failure or negative consequence.
Will
To exercise the will.
Must
Used to indicate that something that is very likely, probable, or certain to be true.
The children must be asleep by now.
Will
To make a choice; choose
Do as you will.
Must
(transitive) To make musty.
Will
To wish; desire
Do what you will. Sit here if you will. See Usage Note at shall.
Must
(intransitive) To become musty.
Will
(auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.
One of our salesmen will visit you tomorrow.
I will pass this exam.
Must
Something that is mandatory or required.
If you're trekking all day, a map is a must.
Will
(auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.
Unfortunately, only one of these gloves will actually fit over my hand.
Must
The property of being stale or musty.
Will
(auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".
He will be home by now. He always gets home before 6 o'clock.
I can't find my umbrella. I will have forgotten it home this morning.
Must
Something that exhibits the property of being stale or musty.
Will
(auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).
Boys will be boys.
Must
Fruit juice that will ferment or has fermented, usually from grapes.
Will
(auxiliary) To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in questions and negation.
Will you marry me?
I’ve told him three times, but he won’t take his medicine.
Must
To be obliged; to be necessitated; - expressing either physical or moral necessity; as, a man must eat for nourishment; we must submit to the laws.
Will
To wish, desire (something).
Do what you will.
Must
To be morally required; to be necessary or essential to a certain quality, character, end, or result; as, he must reconsider the matter; he must have been insane.
Likewise must the deacons be grave.
Morover, he [a bishop] must have a good report of them which are without.
Will
To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).
Must
The expressed juice of the grape, or other fruit, before fermentation.
No fermenting must fills . . . the deep vats.
Will
(archaic) Implying will go.
Must
Mustiness.
Will
To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.
Must
To make musty; to become musty.
Will
(transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).
He willed his stamp collection to the local museum.
Must
Being in a condition of dangerous frenzy, usually connected with sexual excitement; - said of adult male elephants which become so at irregular intervals, typicaly due to increased testosterone levels.
Will
(transitive) To exert one's force of will (intention) in order to compel, or attempt to compel, something to happen or someone to do something.
All the fans were willing their team to win the game.
Must
A necessary or essential thing;
Seat belts are an absolute must
Will
One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.
Of course, man's will is often regulated by his reason.
Must
Grape juice before or during fermentation
Will
The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.
Most creatures have a will to live.
Must
The quality of smelling or tasting old or stale or mouldy
Will
One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.
Eventually I submitted to my parents' will.
Must
Highly recommended;
A book that is must reading
Will
Firmity of purpose, fixity of intent
Will
(law) A formal declaration of one's intent concerning the disposal of one's property and holdings after death; the legal document stating such wishes.
Will
(archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.
Will
(archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)
He felt a great will to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land.
Will
The power of choosing; the faculty or endowment of the soul by which it is capable of choosing; the faculty or power of the mind by which we decide to do or not to do; the power or faculty of preferring or selecting one of two or more objects.
It is necessary to form a distinct notion of what is meant by the word "volition" in order to understand the import of the word will, for this last word expresses the power of mind of which "volition" is the act.
Will is an ambiguous word, being sometimes put for the faculty of willing; sometimes for the act of that faculty, besides [having] other meanings. But "volition" always signifies the act of willing, and nothing else.
Appetite is the will's solicitor, and the will is appetite's controller; what we covet according to the one, by the other we often reject.
The will is plainly that by which the mind chooses anything.
Will
The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.
The word "will," however, is not always used in this its proper acceptation, but is frequently substituted for "volition", as when I say that my hand mover in obedience to my will.
Will
The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.
Thy will be done.
Our prayers should be according to the will of God.
Will
Strong wish or inclination; desire; purpose.
My poverty, but not my will, consents; . . . Put this in any liquid thing you will,And drink it off.
Will
That which is strongly wished or desired.
What's your will, good friar?
The mariner hath his will.
Will
Arbitrary disposal; power to control, dispose, or determine.
Deliver me not over unto the will of mine enemies.
Will
The legal declaration of a person's mind as to the manner in which he would have his property or estate disposed of after his death; the written instrument, legally executed, by which a man makes disposition of his estate, to take effect after his death; testament; devise. See the Note under Testament, 1.
Will
To wish; to desire; to incline to have.
A wife as of herself no thing ne sholde [should]Wille in effect, but as her husband wolde [would].
Caleb said unto her, What will thou ?
They would none of my counsel.
Will
As an auxiliary, will is used to denote futurity dependent on the verb. Thus, in first person, "I will" denotes willingness, consent, promise; and when "will" is emphasized, it denotes determination or fixed purpose; as, I will go if you wish; I will go at all hazards. In the second and third persons, the idea of distinct volition, wish, or purpose is evanescent, and simple certainty is appropriately expressed; as, "You will go," or "He will go," describes a future event as a fact only. To emphasize will denotes (according to the tone or context) certain futurity or fixed determination.
I am able to devote as much time and attention to other subjects as I will [shall] be under the necessity of doing next winter.
A countryman, telling us what he had seen, remarked that if the conflagration went on, as it was doing, we would [should] have, as our next season's employment, the Old Town of Edinburgh to rebuild.
I feel assured that I will [shall] not have the misfortune to find conflicting views held by one so enlightened as your excellency.
Will
To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.
And behold, there came a leper and worshiped him, saying, Lord if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean. And Jesus . . . touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean.
Will
To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree.
By all law and reason, that which the Parliament will not, is no more established in this kingdom.
Two things he [God] willeth, that we should be good, and that we should be happy.
Will
To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.
They willed me say so, madam.
Send for music,And will the cooks to use their best of cunningTo please the palate.
As you go, will the lord mayor . . . To attend our further pleasure presently.
Will
To give or direct the disposal of by testament; to bequeath; to devise; as, to will one's estate to a child; also, to order or direct by testament; as, he willed that his nephew should have his watch.
Will
To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree.
At Winchester he lies, so himself willed.
He that shall turn his thoughts inward upon what passes in his own mind when he wills.
I contend for liberty as it signifies a power in man to do as he wills or pleases.
Will
The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;
The exercise of their volition we construe as revolt
Will
A fixed and persistent intent or purpose;
Where there's a will there's a way
Will
A legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die
Will
Decree or ordain;
God wills our existence
Will
Have in mind;
I will take the exam tomorrow
Will
Determine by choice;
This action was willed and intended
Will
Leave or give by will after one's death;
My aunt bequeathed me all her jewelry
My grandfather left me his entire estate
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