English

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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From while (noun) +‎ -s (adverbial suffix);[1] compare whilst.

Adverb

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whiles (not comparable)

  1. (archaic or Scotland) sometimes; at times
    • 1927, John Buchan, Witch Wood[1], published 1988, page 14:
      Man, I've diverted myself whiles with the science of the stars, and can make a shape at calculating a nativity.
  2. (archaic or Scotland) meanwhile

Conjunction

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whiles

  1. (archaic or dialect) while, whilst
    • c. 1596–1598 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Merchant of Venice”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene ii]:
      Portia: [] Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door.
    • 1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies [] (First Folio), London: [] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act IV, scene i]:
      for it so falls out,
      That what we have we prize not to the worth
      Whiles we enjoy it; but being lack'd and lost,
      Why, then we rack the value, then we find
      The virtue that possession would not show us
      Whiles it was ours.
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Etymology 2

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Noun

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whiles

  1. plural of while

Verb

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whiles

  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of while

References

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  1. ^ whiles, n., conj., and adv.”, in OED Online  , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Scots

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Pronunciation

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Adverb

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whiles

  1. Sometimes
    Whiles thay gang tae the strand, but maistly tae the bens- Sometimes they go to the beach, but mostly to the mountains