View source for whilst

==English==
{{was wotd|2022|January|15}}

===Etymology===
{{root|en|ine-pro|*kʷyeh₁-}}
From Late {{inh|en|enm|whilst}}, {{m|enm|whilest}}, {{m|enm|qwhilste}} {{qualifier|Northern England}}, {{m|enm|quilest}} {{qualifier|Northwest Midlands}}{{nb...|whylest, whylst, (Northwest Midlands) quilist, quylest, quylist|otherforms=1}}, from {{m|enm|whiles|t=during the time that, while; only so long as; provided that; because, since; until}}<ref>{{R:MED Online|entry=whīles|pos=conj|id=MED52563}}</ref> + {{m|enm|-t|pos={{glossary|excrescent}} {{glossary|suffix}}, perhaps due to a combination of ''-(e)s'' and the following word ''the'', or influenced by the {{glossary|superlative}} suffix ''-est''}}.<ref>{{R:MED Online|entry=-t|pos=suf|id=MED44333}}</ref> {{m|enm||Whiles}} is derived from {{m|enm|whiles|t=period of time, a while|pos=noun}} (probably from the second element of {{glossary|adverb}}s and {{glossary|conjunction}}s like {{m|enm|otherwhiles}} and {{m|enm|somewhiles}}), from {{m|enm|while|t=period of time, a while|pos=noun}}<ref>{{R:MED Online|entry=whīle|pos=n|id=MED52555}}</ref> + {{m|enm|-s|pos=suffix forming {{glossary|adverb}}s of manner, space, and time}};<ref>{{R:MED Online|entry=-(e)s|pos=''suf.''(1)|noformat=1|id=MED14416}}</ref> and {{m|enm||while}} is from {{inh|en|ang|hwīl|t=period of time, a while}}, ultimately from {{inh|en|gem-pro|*hwīlō|t=period of time, a while; period of rest, break, pause}}, from {{inh|en|ine-pro|*kʷyeh₁-|t=to rest; peace, rest}}. The English word can be analysed as {{suffix|en|whiles|t|pos2=excrescent suffix appended to words suffixed with ''-s''}}.<ref>{{R:OED Online|pos=''adv.'' and ''conj.'' (and ''prep.'')|noformat=1|id=228351|date=December 2021|nodot=1}}; {{R:Lexico|pos=conj.'' and ''relative adv}}</ref>

{{der-top|cognates}}
* {{cog|fy|wylst|t=whilst}}
{{der-bottom}}

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/waɪlst/|a=RP,GA}}
* {{IPA|en|/ʍaɪlst/|a=non-wine-whine}}
* {{audio|en|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Back ache-whilst.wav|a=RP}}
* {{rhymes|en|aɪlst|s=1}}
* {{IPA|en|/wɪlst/|a=chiefly,US,UK,sometimes,proscribed}}

===Adverb===
{{en-adv|-}}

# {{lb|en|archaic|or|obsolete|except|dialectal}} ''Often preceded by'' '''[[the]]''': During the [[time#Noun|time]]; [[meanwhile]].
#* {{RQ:Shakespeare Twelfth Night|act=IV|scene=ii|page=270|column=2|passage=Nay, I prethee put on this gown, & this beard, make him beleeue thou art ſir ''Topas'' the Curate, doe it quickly. Ile call ſir ''Toby'' the '''whilſt'''.}}
#* {{RQ:Beaumont Fletcher Cupids Revenge|edition=3rd|scene=v|sig=&#91;D4&#93;|page=32|passage=''Hero''. Leave, leave, tis novv too late. She is dead, her laſt is breathed. / ''Cleo''{{quote-gloss|''phila''}}. VVhat ſhall vvee doe. / ''Her''{{quote-gloss|''o''}}. Goe run, / And tell the ''Duke''; and '''vvhilſt''' ile cloſe her eyes.}}
#* {{RQ:Scott Ivanhoe|volume=I|chapter=X|page=209|passage=What money have I bought with me? {{...}} even but a small sum; something in hand the '''whilst'''.|footer=Erronously, this volume of the work has two chapters numbered X; this is the second one.}}

====Translations====
{{trans-see|during the time that|meanwhile}}

===Conjunction===
{{en-con}}

# {{lb|en|UK|Irish|Commonwealth|literary|or|rare|_|in North America}} {{synonym of|en|[[while#Conjunction|while]]}}
#: {{synonyms|en|Thesaurus:while}}
## During the [[whole#Noun|whole]], or until the [[end#Noun|end]], of the [[time#Noun|time]] that; [[as long as]], [[at the same time]].
##: {{synonyms|en|q1=archaic or dialectal|whiles}}
##: {{ux|en|Drivers must switch off engines '''whilst''' on stand.|instruction on a [[bus stand]] sign|inline=1}}
##* {{RQ:Shakespeare King John|act=IV|scene=ii|page=16|column=1|passage=I ſaw a Smith ſtand with his hammer (thus) / The '''whilſt''' his Iron did on the Anuile coole.}}
##* {{RQ:Shakespeare Merry Wives|act=I|scene=i|page=40|column=2|passage={{...}} Ile nere be drunk '''whilſt''' I liue againe, but in honeſt, ciuill, godly company for this tricke: if I be drunke, Ile be drunke with thoſe that haue the feare of God, and not with drunken knaues.}}
##* {{RQ:Fletcher Shirley Night-Walker|page=11|passage=VVell, make your mirth, the '''whilſt''' I bear my miſery: / Honeſt minds vvould have better thoughts.}}
##* {{RQ:Defoe Reformation|volume=2|page=12|passage=And thus with lame pretences they revive / Thoſe Lines when Dead, he bluſh'd at '''whilſt''' alive: / As if Mankind could not diſcern their Evil, / Without a naked Viſion of the Devil.}}
##* {{RQ:Austen Pride and Prejudice|volume=III|chapter=V|page=92|passage=Elizabeth, as she affectionately embraced her, '''whilst''' tears filled the eyes of both, lost not a moment in asking whether any thing had been heard of the fugitives.}}
##* {{quote-journal|en|year=1942|month=July-August|author=Philip Spencer|title=On the Footplate in Egypt|journal=Railway Magazine|page=208|text=The locomotive [...] was quietly "blowing off" on one Ross "pop" valve, '''whilst''' the rhythmic clanging of the fireman's shovel, the black smoke pouring from her chimney, and the harsh sound of the blower told of the proximity of departure time.}}
## Within, or before the end, of the time that.
##* {{RQ:Scott Tales of My Landlord 3|volume=II|chapter=VII|page=172|passage=[P]ray, step down to the cellar and fetch us a bottle of the Burgundy, 1678—it is the fourth bin from the right-hand turn—And I say, Craigie—you may fetch up half-a-dozen '''whilst''' you are about it—Egad, we'll make a night on't.}}
## [[although|Although]]; [[in contrast]]; [[whereas]].
##* {{RQ:Shakespeare Comedy of Errors|act=II|scene=i|page=88|column=1|passage=His company must do his minions grace, / '''Whil'ſt''' I at home ſtarue for a merrie looke: / Hath homelie age th'alluring beauty tooke / From my poore cheeke?}}
##* {{RQ:Shakespeare Sonnets|sonnet=37|page=54|passage=So then I am not lame, poore, nor diſpiſ'd, / '''VVhilſt''' that this ſhadow doth ſuch ſubſtance giue, / That I in thy abundance am ſuffic'd, / And by a part of all thy glory liue: {{...}}}}
##* {{RQ:Fuller Church History|volume=I|section=I|sectionname=The First Century|subsection=2 (Their Principal Idols)|page=6|passage=There is a place near St. Paul's in London, called in the old records "Diana's chamber," where, in the days of king [[w:Edward I of England|Edward I.]] thousands of the heads of oxen were digged up; whereat the ignorant wondered, '''whilst''' the learned well understood them to be the proper sacrifices to [[w:Diana (mythology)|Diana]], whose great temple was built thereabout.}}
##* {{RQ:Thackeray Vanity Fair|chapter=Brussels|page=253|passage='''Whilst''' her appearance was an utter failure (as her husband felt with a sort of rage), Mrs. Rawdon Crawley's ''début'' was, on the contrary, very brilliant.}}
## [[besides|Besides]]; [[in addition]].
##* {{quote-journal|en|author=D. S. Barrie|title=The Railways of South Wales|magazine=w:The Railway Magazine|location=London|publisher=Tothill Press|month=September|year=1939|page=161|issn=0033-8923|oclc=1256058197|passage=Modern engine sheds of advanced design have also been built at Radyr, Abercynon, and elsewhere, '''whilst''' other depots have been remodelled and re-equipped.}}
##* {{RQ:Allingham China Governess|chapter=The Boy in the Corner|page=214|passage=The face which emerged was not reassuring. It was blunt and grey, the nose springing thick and flat from high on the frontal bone of the forehead, '''whilst''' his eyes were narrow slits of dark in a tight bandage of tissue.}}
## [[only if|Only if]]; [[provided#Conjunction|provided]] that; as long as.

====Usage notes====
In American English, ''whilst'' is generally considered to be pretentious, poetic, or archaic. ''The Penguin Working Words'' (1993)<ref>{{cite-book|author=Barrie Hughes|title=The Penguin Working Words: An Australian Guide to Modern English Usage|location=Ringwood, Vic.|publisher=[[w:Penguin Books|Penguin]]|year=1993|isbn=978-0-14-051351-6}}.</ref> recommends {{m|en|while}} only, and notes that ''whilst'' is old-fashioned. ''The Cambridge Guide to English Usage'' (2004)<ref>{{cite-book|author=Pam Peters|authorlink=Pam Peters|title=The Cambridge Guide to English Usage|location=Cambridge, Cambridgeshire; New York, N.Y.|publisher={{w|Cambridge University Press}}|year=2004|isbn=978-0-511-19354-5}}.</ref> and ''Webster’s Guide to English Usage'' (2004)<ref>{{cite-book|title=Webster’s Guide to English Usage|location=New York, N.Y.|publisher=[[w:Barnes & Noble|Barnes & Noble Books]]|year=2004|isbn=978-0-7607-5541-9}}.</ref> comment on its regional character, and note that it is rare in American usage. It is used and understood more generally in International English. On the other hand, ''The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style'' (2005),<ref>{{cite-book|title=The American Heritage Guide to Contemporary Usage and Style|location=Boston, Mass.|publisher=[[w:Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|Houghton Mifflin Co.]]|year=2005|isbn=978-0-618-60499-9}}</ref> writes that, “while using ''whilst'' runs the risk of sounding pretentious, it can sometimes add a literary or ironically formal note to a piece of writing”.

====Alternative forms====
* {{alter|en|whilest|whylst|whylest}} {{qualifier|obsolete}}

====Translations====
{{trans-see|''synonym of'' while|while}}
{{trans-see|although; in contrast; whereas|although|in contrast|whereas}}

===References===
<references/>

===Further reading===
* {{pedia|while}}
* {{R:Webster 1913}}
* {{R:Online Etymology Dictionary}}