Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Having once been; former.
- adverb At a past time; formerly.
from The Century Dictionary.
- At times; by times.
- Once; formerly; once upon a time.
- While.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adverb Obs. or Poetic Formerly; once; of old; erewhile; at times.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adverb obsolete
While . - adverb dated
Once upon a time , formerly. - adjective now literary
Former ;sometime ,late . - conjunction
While .
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word whilom.
Examples
-
On reaching the Place de la Révolution, her looks turned towards the Jardin National, whilom Tuileries; her face at that moment gave signs of lively emotion.
Archive 2007-08-19 de Brantigny........................ 2007
-
On reaching the Place de la Révolution, her looks turned towards the Jardin National, whilom Tuileries; her face at that moment gave signs of lively emotion.
"Trial of Marie-Antoinette." by Thomas Carlyle de Brantigny........................ 2007
-
Excuse me therefore, dear Sir, that I cannot accept your invitation to the Liverpool Musical Festival, inasmuch as I cannot in any way think of wearying the public with my "whilom" piano-playing.
Letters Liszt, Franz 1893
-
The choice of phrases in Ballads and Songs, and perhaps more in serious pieces, is of much importance; a common use of old worn out words I do not like, such as erst, whilom, and a thousand more; and yet to take up and use
Letter 94 2009
-
Did not thy father's friends and whilom guests assist thee?
The Phoenissae 2008
-
Nay, 'tis that we-and this is most important-may dwell in comfort, instead of suffering want (for well I know that every whilom friend avoids the poor), and that I might rear my sons as doth befit my house; further, that I might be the father of brothers for the children thou hast borne, and raise these to the same high rank, uniting the family in one, - to my lasting bliss.
Medea 2008
-
On one shoulder was fixed the painted figure of an owl; and he bore in the right hand his pastoral staff, and in the left a small mirror having a handle to it, thus resembling a celebrated jester, whose adventures, translated into English, were whilom extremely popular, and which may still be procured in black letter, for about one sterling pound per leaf.
The Abbot 2008
-
Paradise enow moratorium nub aural whilom incessantly heliograph
Language Glenda Larke 2008
-
Did not thy father's friends and whilom guests assist thee?
The Phoenissae 2008
-
Nay, 'tis that we-and this is most important-may dwell in comfort, instead of suffering want (for well I know that every whilom friend avoids the poor), and that I might rear my sons as doth befit my house; further, that I might be the father of brothers for the children thou hast borne, and raise these to the same high rank, uniting the family in one, - to my lasting bliss.
Medea 2008
oroboros commented on the word whilom
Erstwhile, quondam.
Edit: you're right, Pro. Fixed. And thanks.
November 18, 2007
qroqqa commented on the word whilom
Whilom, as tells the tale, was a walled cheaping-town hight Utterhay, which was builded in a bight of the land a little off the great highway which went from over the mountains to the sea.
—opening of William Morris's The Water of the Wondrous Isles
December 24, 2008
Prolagus commented on the word whilom
oroboros: erstwhile?
February 4, 2009
knitandpurl commented on the word whilom
"Lawrence Lessig, the whilom Special Master in the Justice Department's antitrust suit against Microsoft, complained that he had installed Internet Explorer on his computer, and in so doing, lost all of his bookmarks--his personal list of signposts that he used to navigate through the maze of the Internet."
- "In the Beginning was the Command Line" by Neal Stephenson
December 24, 2012