goodwill

B2 Topic:People & Society

Also spelled good-will

US /ɡʊdˈwɪl/ See IPA manual

Freq #11144

Meanings

1

noun
A kind and friendly attitude towards other people.

The two countries exchanged gifts as a sign of goodwill.
2

noun
The good reputation of a business, treated as something of value beyond its physical property.

When they bought the company, they also paid for its goodwill.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a kind and friendly... benevolencegood will

Word family

Derived forms goodwillergoodwilly

Etymology

From Middle English *goodwille, good wille (“goodwill”), perhaps from Old English *gōdwille (“goodwill”); compare Old English gōdwillende (“well-pleased”); also Scots guidwilly, guidwillie (“displaying goodwill”), equivalent to good + will. Cognate with Scots guidwill (“goodwill”), Middle Low German gūtwille (“goodwill”), Old High German guotwilligi (“goodwill”), Old Danish godvilje (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvilji, góðvili (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvild (“goodness”). The sense "thrift shop" is a genericized trademark of a US chain of such shops.

*goodwille Middle English *gōdwille Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

People & Society

External links

# goodwill

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B2
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ɡʊdˈwɪl/
**Frequency rank:** 11144

## Meanings
1. A kind and friendly attitude towards other people.
2. The good reputation of a business, treated as something of value beyond its physical property.

## Examples
- The two countries exchanged gifts as a sign of goodwill.
- When they bought the company, they also paid for its goodwill.

## Derived Forms
- goodwiller
- goodwilly

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *goodwille
- Root: *gōdwille

## Etymology
From Middle English *goodwille, good wille (“goodwill”), perhaps from Old English *gōdwille (“goodwill”); compare Old English gōdwillende (“well-pleased”); also Scots guidwilly, guidwillie (“displaying goodwill”), equivalent to good + will. Cognate with Scots guidwill (“goodwill”), Middle Low German gūtwille (“goodwill”), Old High German guotwilligi (“goodwill”), Old Danish godvilje (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvilji, góðvili (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvild (“goodness”). The sense "thrift shop" is a genericized trademark of a US chain of such shops.

## AI Etymology
Goodwill comes from Middle English *goodwille, good wille (“goodwill”), perhaps from Old English *gōdwille (“goodwill”); compare Old English gōdwillende (“well-pleased”); also Scots guidwilly, guidwillie (“displaying goodwill”), equivalent to good + will. Cognate with Scots guidwill (“goodwill”), Middle Low German gūtwille (“goodwill”), Old High German guotwilligi (“goodwill”), Old Danish godvilje (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvilji, góðvili (“goodwill”), Icelandic góðvild (“goodness”). The sense "thrift shop" is a genericized trademark of a US chain of such shops. In current use, the main senses are “A kind and friendly attitude towards other people” and “The good reputation of a business, treated as something of value beyond its physical property”.

## Topics
- People & Society

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