whilom

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*kʷyeh₁-“to rest; peace, rest”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*hwīlō“period of time, time, while; period of rest, pause”
3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*hwīlum
4. Old English · inherited fromhwīlum
5. Middle English · inherited fromwhilom“(adverb) at one time, formerly, once; once upon a time; at times, sometimes; at a future time; (conjunction) while”
6. English todaywhilom

From Middle English whilom (“(adverb) at one time, formerly, once; once upon a time; at times, sometimes; at a future time; (conjunction) while”) [and other forms], from Old English hwīlum, hwīlan, hwīlon (“at one time, once; sometimes”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlum, the dative plural of *hwīlu (“period of time, time, while; period of rest, pause”), from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (“period of time, time, while; period of rest, pause”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”). The Oxford English Dictionary regards adverb sense 2.2 (“for some time that has passed”) as “aberrant”. Cognates * Old High German hwīlōn (Middle High German wīlen, wīlent, German weiland (“at one time, formerly”)) * Old Saxon hwīlon (“sometimes”) (Middle Dutch wilen, Middle Low German wilen (“at one time, formerly”), Dutch wijlen (“deceased, late”))

Words from the same roots