umquhile, umwhile, adv. and a. Now only arch.
(ˈʌmhwaɪl)
Forms: α. 2 um-wile, 4–5, 7–9 umwhile (4 homwill), 4, 6 umwhyle. β. north. 4–5 umquile (umquil, 4 umquille), vmqwhyle; Sc. 5 umqwhile (9 umquwhile), 5– umquhile (5–6 wmquhile), 5–7 umquhyle (5 wmquhyle, vm-, wmqwhyle); 5 umquhil, 5–7 umquhill (wm-; 7 wmquill).
[Representing OE. ymb hw{iacu}le (see umbewhile adv.), with substitution of um- for ymb-. In later use specifically Scottish, whence the usual spelling with -quh-.]
A. adv.
† 1. At times; sometimes. Obs.
| α 1154 O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137, Hi læiden gæildes on the tunes æure um wile & clepeden it tenserie. 1303 R. Brunne Handl. Synne 2780 Fallace ys, as who seye, ‘gyle’, As many one sweryn vmwhyle. c 1330 ― Chron. Wace (Rolls) 1415 Vmwhile west, vmwhile est, þer schipes driuen in many tempest. a 1340 Hampole Psalter cxli. 6, I fled noght fra tribulacioun in saule, thof i fled vmwhile in body. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. v. 345 Þere was laughyng and louryng..And seten so til euensonge and songen vmwhile. a 1529 Skelton Agst. Garnesche ii. 11 Ye countyr vmwhyle to capcyously, and ar ye be dysiryd. |
| β a 1300 Cursor M. 4319 Sua þou mai þe driue to ded, To ded vmquil, and to langur. Ibid. 10323 Þof godd vmquil be funden still. 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 262 To stand agayne thar fayis mycht, Wmquhile with strenth, & quhile with slycht. c 1400 Mandeville (Roxb.) vi. 20 Ay when him list, he gase to visit þam, and vmqwhyle ledes þam aboute with him. a 1500 Ratis Raving i. 1448 And eild..Wmquhill is twrnyt with inwy, And wmquhill led with lichory. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 525 That all this warld hes bene full of variance; Vmquhill in plesure and prosperitie, Vmquhill in pane and greit penuritie. a 1568 in Bannatyne MS. (Hunterian Cl.) 633 Vmquhile I syche and vmquhile I sing... Vmquhill I lawche and quhill I weip and wring. |
2. At one time; at some previous time; formerly. Obs. exc. arch.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints iii. (Andrew) 863 Ane bischope vmquhile, I herd say..Sancte Andrew in affecione Had ay. a 1400–50 Alexander 23 Oute in þe erth of Egipt enhabet vmquile Þe wysest wees of the werd. Ibid. 3079 (Dubl. MS.), Nowe am I kest vnder, Þat had of the Orient all ouer homage vmwhile. 1456 Sir G. Haye Law Arms (S.T.S.) 2 Chaumerlayn umquhyle to..king Charles of Fraunce. c 1470 Henry Wallace ii. 207 O der Wallace, wmquhill was stark and stur, Thow most o neide in presoune till endur. 1508 Dunbar Poems vii. heading, Lord Barnard Stewart,..Conquereur of Naplis and vmquhile constable general of the same. c 1550 Lyndesay Tragedy Prol. 40 I am Dauid, that cairfull Cardinall,..That vmquhyle had so gret preeminens. 1567 Satir. Poems Reform. iv. 1 I, Henrie Stewart, vmquhile of Scotland King. 1832 F. Trollope Dom. Manners Amer. I. vii. 93 A drawing..representing Hebe and the bird, umquhile sacred to Jupiter. [1890 Service Notandums 88 Her white cheek, umquhile red.] |
† 3. At some later time; by-and-by. Obs.
| 1375 Barbour Bruce iii. 256 For nane wate, in how litill space That god wmquhile will send his grace. 1513 Douglas æneid ii. x. 209 And I wmquhill quhilk sal be clepit thi spous, Quham to sall we be left in this waist hous? |
B. adj. Former, late: a. Of persons; esp. = now deceased.
In the first quot. perhaps still adverbial.
| 1431 Munim. de Melros (Bann. Cl.) 521 Patrike off Dunbarr,..brothir vmquhile of a hee & mychti lorde Sir George of Dunbarr. 1477 Exch. Rolls Scotl. VIII. 403 note, Landis..the quhilkis umquhile Cuthbert Colvile had of ws of before. 1490–1 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. I. 197 A compositioun maid with vmquhile the Master of Craufurd. 1535 Stewart Cron. Scot. (Rolls) III. 519 James Stewart, Sone and Air..to vmquhill King Robert Stewart. 1583 in Montgomerie's Poems (S.T.S. 1910) 300 The testament..pertening to vmquhile ane richt honorabill Ladie Margaret Fraser.., relict of vmquhile Iohne Montgummerie. 1633 Sc. Acts, Chas. I (1870) V. 26/1 The fruites of benefice givin by his Majestie his said vmquhyle dearest father. a 1670 Spalding Troub. Chas. I (1829) 9 Lachlan M‘Intosh,..brother to the umquhile laird of M‘Intosh, William M‘Intosh,..son to umquhile Lachlan Angus-son. 1714 Ramsay Elegy J. Cowper xiii, Of umquhile John to lie or bann, Shaws but ill will. 1784 in Nairne Peerage Evidence (1874) 72 The goods and gear which pertained and belonged to umqle miss Brabazone Nairne. 1814 Scott Wav. x, The estate which devolved on this unhappy woman by a settlement of her umwhile husband. 1816 ― Old Mort. iii, His uncle, as well as his umquhile father, is a roundhead, I presume. 1874 A. Hislop Bk. Sc. Anecdote 725/1 The ‘leader of the psalmody’, as umquhile ‘precentors’ are now termed. 1886 Ruskin Præterita I. 408 Her father visited his umquwhile clientage at the coal-wharves. 1934 J. Buchan Free Fishers ii. 40 What do you think of your umquhile pupil, Professor? 1976 Times Lit. Suppl. 21 May 606/3 The reference to the ci-devant Lord Stansgate is notoriously getting shorter and shorter;..with further reduction en by en the umquhile peer will disappear completely. |
b. Of things. rare.
| 1548 Compl. Scotl. i. 21 Quhat sal be said of athenes, the vmquhile fontane of sapiens. 1842 F. Trollope Vis. to Italy i. x. 161, I went to see Europe's umwhile wonder and delight. 1854 H. Miller Sch. & Schm. (1858) 356 When I last passed along the Coal-hill, I saw my umquhile house existing as a bit of dingy wall. |