somewhile

English edit

Alternative forms edit

somwhile (obsolete)

Etymology edit

From Middle English summehwile, summewile, sumwile, equivalent to some +‎ while. Compare Dutch somwijlen (“sometimes”).

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /ˈsʌmʍaɪl/, /ˈsʌmwaɪl/
Audio (Southern England) (file)

Adverb edit

somewhile (not comparable)

Sometimes; at one time or another; from time to time; at times
For a while; at one time; for a time
- 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “May. Aegloga Quinta.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC; republished as The Shepheardes Calender […], London: […] Iohn Wolfe for Iohn Harrison the yonger, […], 1586, →OCLC:
  Tho, under colour of shepeheards, somewhile / There crept in wolves, ful of fraude and guile.

Coordinate terms edit

otherwhile

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “somewhile”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)

Derived terms edit

somewhiles