goodwill
n. uncountablen. the friendly feeling of wanting to help others. In business, it also means the extra value a company has because of its good reputation and loyal customers.
n. a sentiment of kindness or a desire to help others; in a commercial context, the intangible asset representing a business's reputation, brand equity, and customer loyalty.
The charity relies on the goodwill of local people.
The company's high purchase price was largely due to the goodwill it had built with customers over fifty years.
When the firm was acquired, the accountants calculated the goodwill as the difference between the total purchase price and the fair market value of the identifiable net assets.
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.
Uncountable in both its general sense of kindness and its specific accounting sense.