while

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷyeh₁-“to rest”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwīlō
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwīlu
4. Old English · inherited fromhwīl
5. Middle English · inherited fromwhyle
6. English todaywhile

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).

Words from the same roots