Whiles
/(h)waɪlz/ adv, conj, noun, verb
adv, conj, noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 plural of while form-of, plural
Verb
- 1 third-person singular simple present indicative of while form-of, indicative, present, singular, third-person
Adverb
- 1 sometimes; at times Scotland, archaic, not-comparable
"Man, I've diverted myself whiles with the science of the stars, and can make a shape at calculating a nativity."
- 2 meanwhile Scotland, archaic, not-comparable
"the good knight whiles humming to himself the lay of some majored troubadour"
Conjunction
- 1 while, whilst archaic, dialectal
"Portia: […]Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door."
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"Here is the paralysed woman of thirty-five who has for twenty years lain in bed the whiles her sister has worked incessantly to maintain her!"
Etymology
Etymology 1
From while (noun) + -s (adverbial suffix); compare whilst.
Etymology 2
See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.