whilom
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whilom
- /ˈwaɪləm/ UK
- /ˈwaɪləm/ US
- /ˈʍaɪ-/ US
Rhymes with -aɪləm
Where it comes from
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”))
adverb whilome
-
At some time in the past; formerly, once upon a time.
Whilom, as olde stories tellen us [...]
Similar: afore, aforehand, already, antecedently, at one time, before, beforehand, beforetime, ere, erenow, erewhile, erstwhile
-
At times, on occasion, sometimes.
Wald ze be lov'd, this lessone mon ze leir;
Flie vhylome Love, and it will folou thee.
Similar: at times, ever and anon, every once in a while, every now and then, every so often, from time to time, intermittently, irregularly, now and again, now and then, occasionally, on occasion
- Preceded by of or this: for some time that has passed. This money I do give ye, becauſe of vvhilom You have bin thought my ſonne, and by myſelfe too, […]
adjective whilome
-
At some time in the past; former, sometime.
On the same day, two notable Female Prisoners are also put in ward there: Dame Dubarry and Josephine Beauharnais! Dame whilom Countess Dubarry, Unfortunate-female, had returned from London; they snatched her, not only as Ex-harlot of a whilom Majesty, and therefore suspect; but as having 'furnished
Similar: erstwhile, quondam, antecedent, anterior, earlier, ex, foregone, former, hitherto, old, olden, past
-
Of a person: deceased, late.
Similar: asleep, at rest, blessed, cadaverous, clay-cold, deceased, breathless, resting, cold, decomposed, defunct, departed
Talk about this word "whilom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/whilom. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. whilom. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/whilom "whilom." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/whilom.Cite this
@misc{whilom_2026,
title = {whilom},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/whilom},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
