whilom

Etymology

Comes 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”. It is cognate with Old High German hwīlōn (Middle High German wīlen, wīlent, German weiland, “at one time, formerly”) and Old Saxon hwīlon (“sometimes”) (Middle Dutch wilen, Middle Low German wilen, “at one time, formerly”, Dutch wijlen, “deceased, late”).