What does while mean?
Definitions for while
ʰwaɪl, waɪlwhile
Here are all the possible meanings and translations of the word while.
Princeton's WordNet
while, piece, spell, patchnoun
a period of indeterminate length (usually short) marked by some action or condition
"he was here for a little while"; "I need to rest for a piece"; "a spell of good weather"; "a patch of bad weather"
Wiktionary
whilenoun
A certain duration of time, a period of time.
He lectured for quite a long while.
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
whileverb
To pass (time) idly.
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
whileconjunction
During the same time that.
He was sleeping while I was singing.
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
whileconjunction
although
This case, while interesting, is a bit frustrating.
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
whileconjunction
until
Etymology: hwil. Cognate with wil.
Webster Dictionary
Whilenoun
space of time, or continued duration, esp. when short; a time; as, one while we thought him innocent
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
Whilenoun
that which requires time; labor; pains
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
Whileverb
to cause to pass away pleasantly or without irksomeness or disgust; to spend or pass; -- usually followed by away
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
Whileverb
to loiter
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
While
during the time that; as long as; whilst; at the same time that; as, while I write, you sleep
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
While
hence, under which circumstances; in which case; though; whereas
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
While
until; till
Etymology: [AS. hwl; akin to OS. hwl, hwla, OFries. hwle, D. wigl, G. weile, OHG. wla, hwla, hwl, Icel. hvla a bed, hvld rest, Sw. hvila, Dan. hvile, Goth. hweila a time, and probably to L. quietus quiet, and perhaps to Gr. the proper time of season. 20. Cf. Quiet, Whilom.]
Freebase
While
"While" is a word in the English language that functions both as a noun and as a subordinating conjunction. Its meaning varies largely based on its intended function, position in the phrase and even the writer or speaker's regional dialect. As a conjunction, it is synonymous with the word "whilst", a form often considered archaic in American and Canadian English, as well as in some style guides on both sides of the Atlantic.
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
While
hwīl, n. a space of time: trouble spent.—adv. during the time that: at the same time that, as long as.—v.t. to cause to pass without irksomeness (with away).—conjs. While, Whilst, as long as: at the same time that: (Shak.) until; Whiles (B.), while, at the same time that.—adv. (Scot.) at times (orig. gen. of A.S. hwíl).—advs. Whī′lom, Whī′lome (Milt.), formerly, once (orig. dat. pl. of A.S. hwíl, time).—Every once in a while, now and then; The while (Shak.), in the meantime; The whilst (Shak.), while: in the meantime; Worth while, worth the trouble and time taken. [A.S. hwíl; Goth. hweila, Ger. weile.]
Editors Contribution
while
A period of known time.
While at the shop we saw some new cheese we thought we'd try.
Submitted by MaryC on March 19, 2020
Matched Categories
British National Corpus
Spoken Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'while' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #149
Written Corpus Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'while' in Written Corpus Frequency: #554
Nouns Frequency
Rank popularity for the word 'while' in Nouns Frequency: #744
Numerology
Chaldean Numerology
The numerical value of while in Chaldean Numerology is: 2
Pythagorean Numerology
The numerical value of while in Pythagorean Numerology is: 3
Examples of while in a Sentence
The Supreme Court in December:
Decisions taken or to be taken by the National Assembly while these citizens are incorporated will be absolutely null.
I have a short window to spend with them while they still think dad’s cool, before you know it they’re gonna have car keys, and they’re gonna be running off with their friends and I’m gonna miss it, and, so, I don’t want to miss it.
But it seems to be the rebel side that is more concerned about the trajectory at this moment, while the regime camp enjoys momentum, the regime itself never showed much openness for compromise even in its most vulnerable moments, so we can expect its current sense of momentum to further reinforce maximalism as Damascus pushes for a decisive military upper hand.
Despite the turmoil in China, equities continued the trend we’ve seen for most of 2015 for mutual funds, non-domestic equity funds took in net new money for the week, while domestic equity funds saw money leave their coffers.
I was waiting for them for a while. I got the confirmation that they were there. I came home, they were gone.
Popularity rank by frequency of use
Translations for while
From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary
- عندما, بينماArabic
- estona, mentre, malgratCatalan, Valencian
- byť, chvíle, zatímcoCzech
- medens, mensDanish
- obwohl, Weilchen, Zeitspanne, solange, Weile, währendGerman
- καθώς, αν και, καίτοι, διάστημα, χρόνος, ενόσω, ενώ, περνώ, μολονότιGreek
- dum, kvankamEsperanto
- aunque, vagar, rato, siempre y cuando, mientrasSpanish
- aika, sillä aikaa kun, vaikka, samaan aikaan kunFinnish
- moment, quoique, tant, pendant que, bien que, tandis queFrench
- skoftWestern Frisian
- agus, tamallIrish
- greisScottish Gaelic
- mentres, namentres, entrementres, tempoGalician
- जबHindi
- ben que, tempore, durante queInterlingua
- seraya, sementaraIndonesian
- dum ke, dumIdo
- benché, malgrado, mentreItalian
- 時, 間, ...ながらJapanese
- 하는 동안Korean
- ماوه, ئهگهرچیKurdish
- dumLatin
- kamērLatvian
- макар, иако, додекаMacedonian
- sementara, semasaMalay
- terwijl, tijdje, momentje, poosje, een hele tijdDutch
- stund, medan, mensNorwegian
- yínee'Navajo, Navaho
- chociaż, gdy, chwila, jakiś czasPolish
- embora, enquanto, malgrado, tempoPortuguese
- deși, în timp ceRomanian
- хотя, в то время, как, вре́мя, [[промежу́ток]] [[время, до тех пор, пока, покаRussian
- dok, докSerbo-Croatian
- stund, tag, fastän, medanSwedish
- rağmen, iken, -kenTurkish
- جبکہUrdu
- moumint, mågré ki, sol tins ki, houbonde, tins ki, hapêye, cwekiWalloon
- בשעתYiddish
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