Definition of WHEN

when

Meanings

Plural: whens

Adv

  • At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
  • At what time? At which time? Upon which occasion or circumstance? Used to introduce direct or indirect questions about time.
  • Used after a noun or noun phrase in isolation to express impatience with an anticipated future event.
  • At an earlier time and under different, usually less favorable, circumstances.
  • At which, on which, during which: often omitted or replaced with that.
  • The time at, on or during which.
  • A circumstance or situation in which.

Conj

  • At (or as soon as) that time that; at the (or any and every) time that; if.
  • During the time that; at the time of the action of the following clause or participle phrase.
  • At what time; at which time.
  • Since; given the fact that; considering that.
  • Whereas; although; at the same time as; in spite of the fact that.

Pron

  • What time; which time.

Noun

  • The time at which something happens.

Intj

  • That's enough: a command asking someone to stop adding something, especially an ingredient or portion of food or drink; used in, or as if in, literal response to 'Say when'.
  • Expressing impatience.

Origin / Etymology

From Middle English when(ne), whan(ne), from Old English hwonne, from Proto-West Germanic *hwannē, from Proto-West Germanic *hwan, from Proto-Germanic *hwan (“at what time, when”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷís (interrogative base).
Cognate with Scots whan (“when”), Dutch wanneer (“when”), wan (“when”) and wen (“when, if”), Low German wannehr (“when”), wann (“when”) and wenn (“if, when”), German wann (“when”) and wenn (“when, if”), Gothic 𐍈𐌰𐌽 (ƕan, “when, how”), Latin quandō (“when”). More at who.
Interjection sense: a playful misunderstanding of "say when" (i.e. say something / speak up when you want me to stop) as "say [the word] when".

Synonyms

as soon as, because, but, given that, immediately, once, seeing that, whenever, where, whereas, while, whilst

Scrabble Score: 10

when is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
when is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
when is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

when is a valid Words With Friends word