awhile

English

Etymology

From Old English ane (“(for) a”) hwile (“while”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /əˈwaɪl/, /əˈʍaɪl/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪl

Adverb

awhile (not comparable)

1. For some time; for a short time.

   Sit with me awhile.

   • c. 1596–97, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice‎^[1], act 1, scene 1:

     Gratiano:
     […] Fare ye well awhile:
     I'll end my exhortation after dinner.

   • 1944 May and June, “When the Circle was Steam Operated”, in Railway Magazine, page 137:

     Engine No. 18 went off into a shed to rest awhile, and No. 7, a precisely similar one, backed on to the train in her place.

   • 1979, The Boomtown Rats (lyrics and music), “Wind Chill Factor (Minus Zero)”, in The Fine Art of Surfacing:

     I'll slip beneath these sheets and shiver here awhile / I find this happening more frequently these days

2. (US, Pennsylvania Dutch English) In the meantime; during an implicit ongoing process.

   Can I get you a drink awhile?

Usage notes

Awhile to mean “for a while” is often considered incorrect to use with a preceding preposition, since one is already supposed: instead of for awhile, one should prefer either for a while or simply awhile. However, awhile as object for a preposition is used by renowned writers, is allowed by Merriam-Webster, and is consistent with how other adverbs of time and place are employed.

In Pennsylvania Dutch English, awhile is typically always used to convey such sense; the word is separated as a while for the first sense, whether preceded by a preposition or not. Compare “You may sit awhile” (inviting a person to sit while they are waiting) and “You may sit a while” (inviting them to sit for a length of time).

Synonyms

• (for some time): for a minute, momentarily; see also Thesaurus:temporarily
• (in the meantime): for the moment, meanwhile, meanwhilst, the while

Related terms

• while

Translations

For some time; for a short time

• Bengali: কিছুক্ষন (kichukkhon)
• Bulgarian: за изве́стно вре́ме (za izvéstno vréme)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 一會兒／一会儿 (zh) (yīhuìr)

• Esperanto: dum iom da tempo
• Finnish: hetken (fi), hetkisen (fi), hetken aikaa, vähän aikaa (fi)
• French: un moment (fr) m, un peu (fr), un instant
• German: eine Weile
• Indonesian: sebentar (id)
• Irish: go fóill, ar feadh píosa, ar feadh tamaill
• Italian: per un po'
• Japanese: 暫く (ja) (しばらく, shibaraku)
• Korean: 잠깐 (ko) (jamkkan)
• Portuguese: por um tempo
• Russian: ненадо́лго (ru) (nenadólgo), на не́которое вре́мя (na nékotoroje vrémja)
• Spanish: un rato, algún tiempo

In the meantime; meanwhile

• Hindi: तब तक (tab tak)
• Japanese: 既にして (ja) (sude ni shite)

References

• “'Awhile' vs. 'A While'”, in Merriam-Webster‎^[2], archived from the original on 2023-10-17: “Generally, the two-word form "a while" should be used when following a preposition ("I will read for a while"), or with the words ago or back ("a while ago/back").”
• “a while (also rarely one while)” under “while, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000: “(chiefly with the prepositions after, for, in, †within) […]”