whilst

English

Alternative forms

• whilest (obsolete)
• whylst (obsolete)
• whylest (obsolete)

Etymology

From whiles +‎ -t. Surface analysis while +‎ -st (“excrescence”). Cognate with West Frisian wylst (“whilst”). More at whiles.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /waɪlst/, /hwaɪlst/
• IPA^(key): /wʌɪlst/

• Audio (US):

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Conjunction

whilst

1. (British, rare or literary in North America) While, at the same time.

   Synonyms: while; see also Thesaurus:while

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 17, in The China Governess‎^[1]:

     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. […].

   Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand. ― (instruction on a bus stand sign)

Usage notes

• Mostly restrained to use in British English.
• Rare in North America and may be considered archaic, pedantic, or pompous.

Translations

while, at the same time — see also while

• Arabic: فِي حِين (fī ḥīn), بَيْنَمَا (baynamā)
• Catalan: mentre que (ca)
• Dutch: terwijl (nl)
• French: tandis que (fr), pendant que (fr)
• Greek: ενώ (el) (enó)
• Hebrew: בזמן ש
• Hungarian: miközben (hu), mialatt (hu)
• Ido: dum ke
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Indonesian: seraya (id)
• Maori: keiwhā, koi (mi)
• Portuguese: enquanto (pt)
• Russian: пока́ (ru) (poká); в то вре́мя, как (v to vrémja, kak); во вре́мя (ru) (vo vrémja)
• Spanish: mientras que
• Swedish: medan (sv)
• Turkish: Aynı zamanda
• West Frisian: wylst

Further reading

• while on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• “whilst”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “whilst”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
• “whilst”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.