I. (|)hwen, (|)wen, _(h)wən adverb
Etymology: Middle English when, whan, from Old English hwenne, hwanne; akin to Old Frisian hwenne when, Old High German hwenne, hwanne, Gothic hwan when, how, Old English hwā who — more at who
1.
a. : at what time : in what period : how long ago
asked him when it happened
: how soon : after how long a lapse of time
when will he return
b. : in what circumstances
when shall we three meet again — Shakespeare
2. : at which time : and then : whereupon
the tree will eventually die of old age and fall down when the problem solves itself — F.D.Smith & Barbara Wilcox
3. : at, in, or during which
a generation when medical science has … prolonged the span of life — New York Times
4. : enough
say when
5. : at a former time ; especially : at a less prosperous time
his old associates … brag fondly of having known him when — Vance Packard
II. conjunction
Etymology: Middle English when, whan, from Old English hwenne, hwanne, from hwenne, hwanne, adverb
1.
a. : at or during the time that : while
on one occasion, when a boy, I went fishing with three other boys — W.J.Reilly
I could not say “Amen!” when they did say “God bless us!” — Shakespeare
b. : just after the moment that
please stop writing when the bell rings
went back to his old job when the war ended
c. : at any and every time that
when he listens to music, he falls asleep
2. : in the event that : on condition that : if
the batter is out when he bunts foul with two strikes on him
3.
a. : considering that
why use water at all when you can drown in it — Stuart Chase
how can he buy the house when he has no money
b. : in spite of the fact that : although
he gave up politics when he might have made a great career in it
III. pronoun
Etymology: when (I)
: what or which time
in 1934, since when he has been working at landscapes and portraits — Horizon
IV. ˈhwen also ˈwen noun
( -s )
Etymology: when (I)
: the time in which something is done or comes about
piecing together the story of my visit there — the when and the why of it — W.B.Mowery
remembering exactly the who, when , what and how of any occasion — J.M.Barzun