An Etymological Dictionary of the German Language/Annotated/weiland

by Friedrich Kluge

weiland, adverb, ‘formerly, of yore,’ from the equivalent Middle High German wîlent, wîlen; the t form is a recent extension of the earlier word (Dutch wijlen). Based on Old High German hwîlôm, ‘at times,’ dative plural of Weile, feminine, ‘while, space of time, leisure.’ The latter is based on Middle High German wîle, Old High German wîla (hwîl), feminine, ‘time, period of time, hour’; corresponding to Old Saxon hwîl, hwîla, ‘time,’ Dutch wîjl, English while, Gothic hweila, ‘time.’ The verb weilen, ‘to stay, tarry, sojourn,’ from Middle High German and Old High German wîlē̆n, ‘to stop, stay, sojourn,’ in connection with Old Icelandic hvíla, ‘bed,’ hvíld, ‘rest,’ suggests that Weile meant literally ‘resting time.’ It has been compared with the Latin root qui (quiê), ‘to rest’ in quietus, tranquillus, as well as with Old Slovenian počiti, ‘to rest’; Greek καιρός, ‘point of time,’ is perhaps cognate.