hwil

Old English

Alternative forms

• huīl

Etymology

From Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu. Cognate with Old Frisian hwīle, Old Saxon hwīla, Old High German wīla, Old Norse hvíla, Gothic 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰 (ƕeila).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xwiːl/, [ʍiːl]

Noun

hwīl f

1. while, period of time

   sume hwīle ― for a while

   lȳtle hwīle ― for a little while

   ealle hwīle ― the whole time

Declension

Strong ō-stem:

	singular	plural
nominative	hwīl	hwīla, hwīle
accusative	hwīle	hwīla, hwīle
genitive	hwīle	hwīla
dative	hwīle	hwīlum

Derived terms

• ǣmethwīl (“free time”)
• bearhtmhwīl (“moment”)
• beorhthwīl (“glance”)
• ealle hwīle
• handhwīl (“moment”)
• hwīlstyċċe (“fragment of time”)
• hwīlum (“sometimes”)
• hwīlwende (“temporary”)
• nūhwīlum (“nowadays”)
• þā hwīle þe (“while”) (conjunction)

Descendants

• Middle English: whyle, while, hwile, qhyle, wile
  • English: while
  • Scots: while
  • Yola: while

References

• Joseph Bosworth and T. Northcote Toller (1898) “HWÍL”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary‎^[1], 2nd edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.