English Explanatory Dictionary

while

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.
  2. An uncertain long period of time
  3. an uncertain short moment
conj
  1. During the same time that.
  2. Although.
  3. Until.
  4. As long as.
prep
  1. Until.
verb
  1. To pass (time) idly.
  2. To occupy or entertain (someone) in order to let time pass.
  3. To elapse, to pass.
verb
  1. Alternative spelling or misspelling of wile.
name
  1. A surname.

Pronunciation

/ʍaɪl/ /waɪl/ /wæl/ /wɑl/ en-ne-while.ogg en-us-while.ogg

Word forms

while whiles whiling whiled

Etymology

From Middle English whyle, from Old English hwīl, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu, from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (compare Dutch wijl, Low German Wiel, German Weile, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Nynorsk kvila (“rest”), Swedish vila (“rest”), Faroese and Icelandic hvíla (“rest”)) from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Cognate with Albanian sillë (“breakfast”), Latin tranquillus, Sanskrit चिर (cirá), Persian شاد (šâd).

Synonyms

spell space throw while age aeon ages blue moon coon's age crow's age dog's age donkey's years eld eon eternity forever forever and a day interim interlude interval lifetime long haul long run meantime minute month of Sundays years yonks bit bat of an eye blink of an eye crack eyeblink flash glimpse half a mo instant jiff jiffy jot mo moment New York minute New York second no time sec second span split-second spurt stound tick trice twink twinkle twinkling as when whilom whilst

Antonyms

since until

Derived words

after a while all the while awhile breathing while even a blind pig can find an acorn once in a while even a blind squirrel can find a nut once in a while even a blind squirrel finds an acorn every once in a while every once in a while for a while in a little while in a while meanwhile no while once in a while paternoster while the while the whole while wait-a-while while-ere whilere whiles whilst worth one's while worth while worthwhile build the plane while flying it do-while loop driving while black fiddle while Rome burns fix the roof while the sun is shining get out while the getting's good make hay while the sun shines not while pussy's a cat quit while one is ahead sort-while-pick strike the iron while it's hot strike while the iron is hot while loop while one is about it while one is at it while we're young while you're down there nine while five while away

Translations

Arabic: مُدَّة Arabic: فَتْرَة Catalan: estona Chinese Mandarin: 一段時間 /一段时间 Czech: chvíle Dutch: tijdje Dutch: momentje Dutch: een hele tijd Dutch: poosje Finnish: aika French: moment West-Frisian: skoft Galician: tempo Galician: intre Georgian: დრო Georgian: დროის მონაკვეთი German: Weile German: Weilchen n diminutive German: Zeitspanne Gothic: 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰 Greek: διάστημα Greek: χρόνος Hungarian: idő Hungarian: egy ideig Hungarian: egy darabig Interlingua: tempore Irish: tamall Irish: scaitheamh Italian: periodo Italian: po' Italian: lasso di tempo Japanese: 期間 Kazakh: сол уақытта Korean: 한참 Korean: 기간 Korean: 동안 Central Kurdish: ماوە Manchu: ᠪᡳᠯᠠᡤᠠᠨ Norwegian: stund Old English: hwīl Polish: chwila Polish: jakiś czas Portuguese: tempo Romanian: vreme Russian: вре́мя Russian: промежу́ток вре́мени Scottish Gaelic: greis Spanish: rato Swedish: stund Swedish: tag Thai: ขณะที่ Turkish: -ken Turkish: iken Walloon: moumint Walloon: hapêye Walloon: houbonde Welsh: sbel
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