Word.ws English Dictionary

whilest

whilest is the obsolete form of whilst.

whilest is the second-person singular simple present indicative of while.

Meaning of whilst

Conjunction

whilst

  1. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, literary, rare) During the whole, or until the end, of the time that; as long as, at the same time.
    • Drivers must switch off engines whilst on stand.
    Synonyms:
    as, when, while, whilom, whiles
  2. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, literary, rare) Within, or before the end, of the time that.
    • [P]ray, step down to the cellar and fetch us a bottle of the Burgundy, 1678—it is the fourth bin from the right-hand turn—And I say, Craigie—you may fetch up half-a-dozen whilst you are about it—Egad, we'll make a night on't.1819, Jedediah Cleishbotham [pseudonym; Walter Scott], chapter VII, in Tales of My Landlord, Third Series. […], volume II (The Bride of Lammermoor), Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for...
    Synonyms:
    as, when, while, whilom
  3. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, literary, rare) Although; in contrast; whereas.
    • His company must do his minions grace, / Whil'ſt I at home ſtarue for a merrie looke: / Hath homelie age th'alluring beauty tooke / From my poore cheeke?c. 1594 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
    Synonyms:
    as, when, while, whilom
  4. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, literary, rare) Besides; in addition.
    • Modern engine sheds of advanced design have also been built at Radyr, Abercynon, and elsewhere, whilst other depots have been remodelled and re-equipped.1939 September, D. S. Barrie, “The Railways of South Wales”, in The Railway Magazine, London: Tothill Press, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 161
    Synonyms:
    as, when, while, whilom
  5. (Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, literary, rare) Only if; provided that; as long as; so long as.
    Synonyms:
    as, when, while, whilom

See all 6 meanings of whilst

Meaning of while

Verb

while (third-person singular simple present whiles, present participle whiling, simple past and past participle whiled)

  1. (in-compounds, transitive, see also while away) To pass (time) idly.
    • I whiled away the hours whilst waiting for him to arrive
    Synonyms:
    idle, laze, lounge
  2. (transitive) To occupy or entertain (someone) in order to let time pass.
    • They whiled them with such answere as suted to their purposes, and long adoe was made in weaving and unweaving Penelopes web, till the Spanish Armada was upon the Coast, and the very Ordnance proclaimed in their eares a surcease from further illusions.1588, Samuel Purchas, Hakluytus Posthumus or, Purchas his Pilgrimes
  3. (archaic, intransitive) To elapse, to pass.
    • The tedious hours whiled slowly on, 'till the succeeding afternoon, when the expected carriage made its appearance much sooner than they had promised themselves.1764, Mrs. Gunning (Susannah), Family Pictures, a Novel. Containing Curious and Interesting Memoirs of Several Persons of Fashion in W-----re, page 115

See all 12 meanings of while

Origin of whilest

From whiles + -t.

From while + -est.

Questions about whilest

What is whilest the obsolete form of?
Whilest is the obsolete form of whilst.

Words near whilest in the dictionary

  1. whilemeal
  2. whilend
  3. whilere
  4. whiles
  5. whiles away
  6. whilest
  7. whilever
  8. whiling
  9. whiling away
  10. whilk
  11. whilks

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: whilest (page history and authors); whilst (page history and authors); while (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “whilest.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/whilest. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.