when.
At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
Meaning & usage
At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
When will they arrive?
Do you know when they arrived?
At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time. Used after a noun or noun phrase in isolation to express impatience with an anticipated future event.
The site's all bugged. Fix when?
Tank class buff when?
At an earlier time and under different, usually less favorable, circumstances.
He's mister high and mighty now, but I remember him when.
At which, on which, during which: often omitted or replaced with that.
That was the day when the Twin Towers fell.
Not a week goes by when I don't mourn that loss.
The time at, on or during which.
I recall when they were called the Greys.
Next year is when we elect a new mayor.
A circumstance or situation in which.
Love is when you can't get enough of someone.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
At (or as soon as) that time that; at the (or any and every) time that; if.
Pavlov's dogs salivate when [i.e. at any and every time that] they hear a bell.
When [i.e. at any and every time that] he speaks to her, he is always polite.
During the time that; at the time of the action of the following clause or participle phrase.
They dream when [i.e. during the time that] they sleep.
I'm happiest when [during the time that, or at any time that] I’m working.
At what time; at which time.
I am here till Friday, when [i.e. at which time] I leave for Senegal.
I was just walking down the street, when [i.e. at which time] all of a sudden it started to rain.
Since; given the fact that; considering that.
I don't see the point of putting up Christmas decorations when I am the only person who is going to see them.
Whereas; although; at the same time as; in spite of the fact that.
You're picking at your scabs when you should be letting them heal.
He keeps changing things when the existing system works perfectly well.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
What time; which time.
Since when do I need your permission?
Where this word comes from
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
The time at which something happens.
A good article will cover the who, the what, the when, the where, the why and the how.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
That's enough: a command asking someone to stop adding something, especially an ingredient or portion of food or drink; used in, or as if in, literal response to ‘Say when’.
Expressing impatience.
Where this word comes from
From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base). Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who. Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".
Try it on your idea.
when has 4 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.
These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.
Explore the name generatorA word with a source.
Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.