Will vs. Well — What's the Difference?

A legal document.

To a considerable extent or degree.

Intention or inclination.

In a satisfactory manner.

The mental faculty by which one deliberately chooses or decides upon a course of action

Expressing surprise.

Diligent purposefulness; determination

A deep hole or shaft sunk into the earth to obtain water, oil, gas, or brine.

Self-control; self-discipline

A container or reservoir for a liquid, such as ink.

A desire, purpose, or determination, especially of one in authority

A place where water issues from the earth; a spring or fountain.

Deliberate intention or wish

A mineral spring.

Free discretion; inclination or pleasure

Wells A watering place; a spa.

Bearing or attitude toward others; disposition

An abundant source

A legal declaration of how a person wishes their personal possessions to be disposed of after death.

An open space extending vertically through the floors of a building, as for stairs or ventilation.

A legally executed document containing this declaration.

An enclosure in a ship's hold for the pumps.

To decide on or intend

A compartment or recessed area in a ship, used for stowage

To yearn for; desire

A part of a ship's weather deck enclosed between two watertight bulkheads.

To decree, dictate, or order

A cistern with a perforated bottom in the hold of a fishing vessel for keeping fish alive.

To induce or try to induce by sheer force of will

An enclosed space for receiving and holding something, such as the wheels of an airplane when retracted.

To grant in a legal will; bequeath

Chiefly British The central space in a law court, directly in front of the judge's bench, where the counsel or solicitor sits.

To order to direct in a legal will

To rise to the surface, ready to flow

To exercise the will.

To rise or surge from an inner source

To make a choice; choose

To pour forth.

To wish; desire

In a good or proper manner

(auxiliary) Used to express the future tense, sometimes with some implication of volition when used in the first person. Compare shall.

Skillfully or proficiently

(auxiliary) To be able to, to have the capacity to.

Satisfactorily or sufficiently

(auxiliary) Expressing a present tense with some conditional or subjective weakening: "will turn out to", "must by inference".

Successfully or effectively

(auxiliary) To habitually do (a given action).

In a comfortable or affluent manner

(auxiliary) To choose or agree to (do something); used to express intention but without any temporal connotations (+ bare infinitive), often in questions and negation.

In a manner affording benefit or gain; advantageously

To wish, desire (something).

With reason or propriety; reasonably

To wish or desire (that something happen); to intend (that).

In all likelihood; indeed

(archaic) Implying will go.

In a prudent or sensible manner

To instruct (that something be done) in one's will.

In a close or familiar manner

(transitive) To bequeath (something) to someone in one's will (legal document).

In a favorable or approving manner

(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.

Thoroughly; completely

One's independent faculty of choice; the ability to be able to exercise one's choice or intention.

Perfectly; clearly

The act of choosing to do something; a person’s conscious intent or volition.

To a suitable or appropriate degree

One's intention or decision; someone's orders or commands.

To a considerable extent or degree

Firmity of purpose, fixity of intent

With care or attention

(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.

Entirely; fully

(archaic) That which is desired; one's wish.

In a satisfactory condition; right or proper

(archaic) Desire, longing. (Now generally merged with later senses.)

Not ailing, infirm, or diseased; healthy.

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.

Cured or healed, as a wound.

The choice which is made; a determination or preference which results from the act or exercise of the power of choice; a volition.

Of or characterized by the maintenance of good health practices. Often used in combination

The choice or determination of one who has authority; a decree; a command; discretionary pleasure.

Advisable; prudent

Strong wish or inclination; desire; purpose.

Fortunate; good

That which is strongly wished or desired.

Used to introduce a remark, resume a narrative, or fill a pause during conversation.

Arbitrary disposal; power to control, dispose, or determine.

Used to express surprise.

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.

(manner) Accurately, competently, satisfactorily.

To wish; to desire; to incline to have.

(manner) Completely, fully.

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.

(degree) To a significant degree.

To be willing; to be inclined or disposed; to be pleased; to wish; to desire.

Very (as a general-purpose intensifier).

To form a distinct volition of; to determine by an act of choice; to ordain; to decree.

In a desirable manner; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favourably; advantageously.

To enjoin or command, as that which is determined by an act of volition; to direct; to order.

In good health.

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.

(hypercorrect) Good, content.

To exercise an act of volition; to choose; to decide; to determine; to decree.

(uncommon) Prudent; good; well-advised.

The capability of conscious choice and decision and intention;

Good to eat; tasty, delicious.

A fixed and persistent intent or purpose;

(Hiberno-English) Used as a greeting

A legal document declaring a person's wishes regarding the disposal of their property when they die

A hole sunk into the ground as a source of water, oil, natural gas or other fluids.

Decree or ordain;

A place where a liquid such as water surfaces naturally; a spring.

Have in mind;

A small depression suitable for holding liquid or other objects.

Determine by choice;

(figurative) A source of supply.

Leave or give by will after one's death;

(nautical) A vertical, cylindrical trunk in a ship, reaching down to the lowest part of the hull, through which the bilge pumps operate.

Expressing future action.

(nautical) The cockpit of a sailboat.

Determination or desire.

(nautical) A compartment in the middle of the hold of a fishing vessel, made tight at the sides, but having holes perforated in the bottom to let in water to keep fish alive while they are transported to market.

Act or process of making a decision.

(nautical) A vertical passage in the stern into which an auxiliary screw propeller may be drawn up out of the water.

(military) A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

(architecture) An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.

The open space between the bench and the counsel tables in a courtroom.

(metalworking) The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.

A well drink.

(video games) The playfield of Tetris and similar video games, into which the blocks fall.

(biology) In a microtiter plate, each of the small equal circular or square sections which serve as test tubes.

(intransitive) To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.

(intransitive) To have something seep out of the surface.

An issue of water from the earth; a spring; a fountain.

A pit or hole sunk into the earth to such a depth as to reach a supply of water, generally of a cylindrical form, and often walled with stone or bricks to prevent the earth from caving in.

A shaft made in the earth to obtain oil or brine.

Fig.: A source of supply; fountain; wellspring.

An inclosure in the middle of a vessel's hold, around the pumps, from the bottom to the lower deck, to preserve the pumps from damage and facilitate their inspection.

A hole or excavation in the earth, in mining, from which run branches or galleries.

An opening through the floors of a building, as for a staircase or an elevator; a wellhole.

The lower part of a furnace, into which the metal falls.

To issue forth, as water from the earth; to flow; to spring.

To pour forth, as from a well.

In a good or proper manner; justly; rightly; not ill or wickedly.

Suitably to one's condition, to the occasion, or to a proposed end or use; suitably; abundantly; fully; adequately; thoroughly.

Fully or about; - used with numbers.

In such manner as is desirable; so as one could wish; satisfactorily; favorably; advantageously; conveniently.

Considerably; not a little; far.

Good in condition or circumstances; desirable, either in a natural or moral sense; fortunate; convenient; advantageous; happy; as, it is well for the country that the crops did not fail; it is well that the mistake was discovered.

Being in health; sound in body; not ailing, diseased, or sick; healthy; as, a well man; the patient is perfectly well.

Being in favor; favored; fortunate.

Safe; as, a chip warranted well at a certain day and place.

A deep hole or shaft dug or drilled to obtain water or oil or gas or brine

A cavity or vessel used to contain liquid

An abundant source;

An open shaft through the floors of a building (as for a stairway)

An enclosed compartment in a ship or plane for holding something as e.g. fish or a plane's landing gear or for protecting something as e.g. a ship's pumps

Come up;

In good health especially after having suffered illness or injury;

Resulting favorably;

Wise or advantageous and hence advisable;

(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (`good' is a nonstandard dialectal variant for `well');

Thoroughly or completely; fully; often used as a combining form;

Indicating high probability; in all likelihood;

(used for emphasis or as an intensifier) entirely or fully;

To a suitable or appropriate extent or degree;

Favorably; with approval;

To a great extent or degree;

With great or especially intimate knowledge;

With prudence or propriety;

With skill or in a pleasing manner;

In a manner affording benefit or advantage;

In financial comfort;

Without unusual distress or resentment; with good humor;

A hole drilled for water.

Indicating good health.

Yes, like in "Where there's a will, there's a way."

It can describe someone's health, like "feeling well."

Mostly, but "will" also indicates determination, intention, or a legal document.

No, "well" can also mean a water source, good health, or express surprise.

Yes, as an interjection, like "Well, look who's here!"

Yes, like "The secret was well hidden."

No, it specifies the well's purpose, distinguishing from oil wells or others.

Generally, no. "Will" is mostly future-oriented.

Yes, for instance, in the context of a legal document detailing one's wishes after death.

"Will" can become 'll, like "I'll" for "I will."

It's a well where people throw coins making a wish.

Not when indicating the future, but "wills" can mean multiple legal documents.

Yes, "willpower" denotes one's determination or self-control.

They're similar, but "well" often pertains to performance, while "good" can imply morality.

Yes, "shall" can also indicate the future, especially in formal or British English.