while: [OE] While comes via prehistoric Germanic *khwīlō from the Indo-European base *qwi-. This denoted ‘rest’, and its meaning was carried through into Latin quiēs (source of English quiet) and tranquillus (source of English tranquil) and Swedish hvila and Danish hvile ‘repose, refreshment’. In English, however, and the other Germanic languages (German weile and Dutch wijl), the notion of ‘rest’ has passed, presumably via ‘period of rest’, to ‘period of time’. English while was first used as a conjunction in the 12th century. => quiet, tranquil
while (n.)
Old English hwile, accusative of hwil "a space of time," from Proto-Germanic *hwilo (cognates: Old Saxon hwil, Old Frisian hwile, Old High German hwila, German Weile, Gothic hveila "space of time, while"), originally "rest" (compare Old Norse hvila "bed," hvild "rest"), from PIE *kwi-lo-, suffixed form of root *kweie- (2) "to rest" (cognates: Avestan shaitish "joy," Old Persian šiyatish "joy," Latin quies "rest, repose, quiet," Old Church Slavonic po-koji "rest"). Notion of "period of rest" became in Germanic "period of time."
Now largely superseded by time except in formulaic constructions (such as all the while). Middle English sense of "short space of time spent in doing something" now only preserved in worthwhile and phrases such as worth (one's) while. As a conjunction, "during or in the time that; as long as" (late Old English), it represents Old English þa hwile þe, literally "the while that." Form whiles is recorded from early 13c.; whilst is from late 14c., with excrescent -st as in amongst, amidst. Service while-you-wait is attested from 1911.
while (v.)
"to cause (time) to pass (without dullness)," 1630s, earlier "to occupy or engage (someone or something) for a period of time" (c. 1600), new formation from while (n.), not considered to be from Middle English hwulen "to have leisure," which is from a Germanic verb form of while (n.) (compare German weilen "to stay, linger"). An association with phrases such as Shakespearean beguile the day, Latin diem decipere, French tromper le temps "has led to the substitution of WILE v by some modern writers" [OED] (see wile (v.)).
双语例句
1. Mommy, you don't need to stay while we talk.
妈妈,我们谈话时你不必陪着.
来自柯林斯例句
2. It took her a while to get acclimatized to her new surroundings.
她花了一段时间才适应了新的环境。
来自柯林斯例句
3. Jim Coulters will mind the store while I'm away.
我不在的时候吉姆·库尔特斯会照看店铺的。
来自柯林斯例句
4. I'll make the tea and you pop off for a while.
我来备茶，你去歇一会儿吧。
来自柯林斯例句
5. Will you lend me your jacket for a little while?
