while

English Online Dictionary. What means while‎? What does while mean?

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʍaɪl/, /waɪl/
• Rhymes: -aɪl
• Homophone: wile

Etymology 1

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 hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”)), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest”). Cognate with Albanian sillë (“breakfast”), Latin tranquillus, Sanskrit चिर (cirá), Persian شاد (šâd).

Noun

while (plural (archaic or informal) whiles)

1. An uncertain duration of time, a period of time.

   Synonyms: spell; see also Thesaurus:uncertain period

   1. (US) an uncertain long period of time

      Synonyms: age; see also Thesaurus:eon

   2. (Philippines) an uncertain short moment

      Synonyms: bit; see also Thesaurus:moment

Derived terms

Translations

Conjunction

while

1. During the same time that.
3. Although.
4. (Northern England, Scotland) Until.
5. As long as.
6. (media, public policy) Used to denote a person experiencing racial profiling when performing a seemingly benign activity.

Usage notes

• See whilst.

Synonyms

• (during the same time that): whilst; see also Thesaurus:while
• (although): as much as; see also Thesaurus:even though
• (until): till; see also Thesaurus:until
• (as long as): provided that, providing, so long as

Derived terms

Translations

Preposition

while

1. (Northern England, Scotland) Until.

Derived terms

• nine while five

Verb

while (third-person singular simple present whiles, present participle whiling, simple past and past participle whiled)

1. (transitive, now only in combination with away; see also while away) To pass (time) idly.

   Synonyms: idle, laze, lounge
2. (transitive) To occupy or entertain (someone) in order to let time pass.
3. (intransitive, archaic) To elapse, to pass.

Synonyms

• (loiter): see also Thesaurus:loiter

Derived terms

Translations

Etymology 2

Verb

while (third-person singular simple present whiles, present participle whiling, simple past and past participle whiled)

1. Alternative spelling or misspelling of wile.

References

• “while”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.
• “while”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Yola

Etymology

From Middle English whyle, from Old English hwīl, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /wiːɫ/
• Homophones: weel, wheel

Noun

while

1. while

References

• Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828) William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 22