# whilst

> English word · Adverb · IPA /waɪlst/ · frequency rank #3,794

## Definitions
1. Often preceded by the: During the time; meanwhile.

## Etymology
From Late Middle English whilst, whilest, qwhilste (Northern England), quilest (Northwest Midlands) [and other forms], from whiles (“during the time that, while; only so long as; provided that; because, since; until”) + -t (excrescent suffix, perhaps due to a combination of -(e)s and the following word the, or influenced by the superlative suffix -est). Whiles is derived from whiles (“period of time, a while”, noun) (probably from the second element of adverbs and conjunctions like otherwhiles and somewhiles), from while (“period of time, a while”, noun) + -s (suffix forming adverbs of manner, space, and time); and while is from Old English hwīl (“period of time, a while”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *hwīlō (“period of time, a while; period of rest, break, pause”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷyeh₁- (“to rest; peace, rest”). The English word can be analysed as whiles + -t (excrescent suffix appended to words suffixed with -s).
cognates
* West Frisian wylst (“whilst”)

## Easily confused with
- **wilt** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whilst-vs-wilt)
- **whit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whilst-vs-whit)
- **wrist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whilst-vs-wrist)
- **whisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whilst-vs-whisk)
- **whimsy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whilst-vs-whimsy)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/while-vs-whilst)
- **waist** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/waist-vs-whilst)

## Common misspellings (10)
`hwilst`, `whhilst`, `whillst`, `whilsst`, `whilstt`, `whilts`, `whislt`, `whlist`, `wihlst`, `wwhilst`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/whilst