whilom.
At some time in the past; formerly, once upon a time.
Meaning & usage
At some time in the past; formerly, once upon a time.
At times, on occasion, sometimes.
Preceded by of or this: for some time that has passed.
Where this word 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”))
At some time in the past; former, sometime.
Of a person: deceased, late.
Where this word 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”))
During the same time that; while.
Up to the time that; till, until.
Where this word 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”))
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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.