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

Definitions

  1. While, at the same time

Ancestry of “whilst”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwhiles—
2Middle Englishwhile—
3Old Englishhwīltime; while; while; time, while
4Proto-West Germanichwīluperiod of rest, pause; time, period of time,...
5Proto-Germanichwīlōtime, period of time, while; period of rest,...
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷyeh₁-to rest; rest, peace
Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷyeh₁- →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwīlō →Every word from Proto-West Germanic hwīlu →