whilom

[ hwahy-luhm, wahy- ]

adjective

1. former; erstwhile:

   whilom friends.

adverb

1. at one time.

whilom

/ ˈwaɪləm /

adverb

1. formerly; once

adjective

1. prenominal one-time; former

Word History and Origins

Origin of whilom¹

before 900; Middle English; Old English hwīlum at times, dative plural of hwīl while (noun)

Word History and Origins

Origin of whilom¹

Old English hwīlum, dative plural of hwīl while ; related to Old High German hwīlōm, German weiland of old

Example Sentences

Schine imagines the stories that words hold for the twins, words like “whilom,” which “was light and airy and lost, like a lady in a white nightgown wandering through a field of flowers filmed over with dewdrops.”

From New York Times

But answer fairly, whilom pup, Are these full proof of growing up?

From Project Gutenberg

For I have heard it said by those who have to do with college discipline that their alumni are no longer invariably distinguished by 'a gentle nature and studious habits'--qualities for which, as the Warden of Merton says, colleges were originally intended to provide a welcome haven of rest, and which are now the especial and gratifying characteristics of that whilom roisterer and boon companion, the Unattached Student.

From Project Gutenberg

But of all these things I shall entreat more largely, when I set forth my book entitled Antipolemus, which whilom when I was at Rome I wrote to Julius, bishop of Rome, the second of that name, at the same time, when he was counselled to make war on the Venetians.

From Project Gutenberg

But that he did yet so dearly affection him that, understanding we had sometimes tidings of Mr. Martin, by whose means he had mostly been moved to this lamentable defection, he should be contented to hear somewhat of his whilom son, still dear to him, albeit estranged.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• departed
• erstwhile
• old