Weile

See also: weile and wèile

German

Etymology

From Middle High German wīle, from Old High German wīla, from Proto-West Germanic *hwīlu.

Cognate with Danish hvile (“rest”), Norwegian Bokmål hvile (“rest”), Old Norse hvíld (“rest, pause”), Gothic 𐍈𐌴𐌹𐌻𐌰 (ƕeila, “interval, time period”), English while.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈvaɪ̯lə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪ̯lə

Noun

Weile f (genitive Weile, plural Weilen, diminutive Weilchen n)

1. while (uncertain duration of time, period of time)

   Darf ich auch mal eine Weile damit fahren?

   Would you let me ride it for a while?

Usage notes

The plural is rarely used.

Declension

Declension of Weile [feminine]

	singular			plural
	indef.	def.	noun	def.	noun
nominative	eine	die	Weile	die	Weilen
genitive	einer	der	Weile	der	Weilen
dative	einer	der	Weile	den	Weilen
accusative	eine	die	Weile	die	Weilen

Related terms

• Langeweile, langweilen, langweilig

Further reading

• “Weile” in Duden online
• “Weile” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache