Where does “whilst” come from?
Whilst derives from English whiles (plural or adverbial form) plus the English possessive suffix -'s, tracing back through Middle English -s and Latin -tās and -tus to Proto-Indo-European -es and -iskos.
whilst (English): While, at the same time
Ancestry of “whilst”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | whiles | — |
| 2 | Middle English | while | — |
| 3 | Old English | hwīl | time; while; while; time, while |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | hwīlu | period of rest, pause; time, period of time,... |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hwīlō | time, period of time, while; period of rest,... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷyeh₁- | to rest; rest, peace |