meanwhile

English

Etymology

From Middle English menewhile, equivalent to mean (“intermediate”) +‎ while. Adverb is by ellipsis from in the mean while, noun being conventionally written as one word after the adjective.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmiːnwaɪl/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• (without the wine–whine merger) IPA^(key): /ˈmiːnhwaɪl/

Noun

meanwhile (plural meanwhiles)

1. The time between two events.
   • Quoted in 2002, Stephen C. Ausband, Byrd's Line: A Natural History (page 37)

     In the meanwhile, the surveyors carried the line three miles, which was no contemptible day's work, considering how cruelly they were entangled with briers and gallbushes.

Synonyms

• between-time, meantime; see also Thesaurus:interim

Derived terms

• in the meanwhile
• meanwhile use

 

Adverb

meanwhile (not comparable)

1. During the time that something is happening, often specifically in a different place.

   Synonyms: in the meantime, meantime, meanwhilst, the while

   There was a party going on downstairs. Meanwhile, I was reading a book.

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 19, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Meanwhile Nanny Broome was recovering from her initial panic and seemed anxious to make up for any kudos she might have lost, by exerting her personality to the utmost. She took the policeman's helmet and placed it on a chair, and unfolded his tunic to shake it and fold it up again for him.

2. During an intervening time; from now until a future time.

   Synonyms: meantime, until then, for now

   We’re going on holiday next month; meanwhile, keep working on the project.

   • 1955 March 1, Winston Churchill, “Defence”, in parliamentary debates (House of Commons), column 1905:

     The day may dawn when fair play, love for one's fellow men, respect for justice and freedom, will enable tormented generations to march forth triumphant from the hideous epoch in which we have to dwell. Meanwhile, never flinch, never weary, never despair.

   • 2004, David Osterczy, Interknot: Adventures in Internet Dating, →ISBN, page 134:

     “ […] I’m not ignoring you, I’m very sorry, I’ll talk to you soon. Meanwhile, get your tickets.”

3. In contrast to aspects previously mentioned.

   Synonyms: at the same time, on the other hand

   Some songs on the album are beautiful. Meanwhile, others are quite forgettable.

   • 2013 March 29, Markos Papadatos, quoting Marina Diamandis, “Marina And The Diamonds on 'How to be a Heartbreaker'”, in Greek Reporter‎^[1]:

     When you are in the studio you don’t have anybody to feed off of, meanwhile when you are playing live you interact with people and you feel the energy in the room.

Translations

during the time something is happening

• Basque: bitartean
• Belarusian: у то́й жа ча́с (u tój ža čás), тым ча́сам (tym čásam)
• Bulgarian: междувре́менно (bg) (mežduvrémenno)
• Catalan: mentrestant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 同時／同时 (zh) (tóngshí)

• Czech: mezitím (cs)
• Danish: imens, i mellemtiden
• Dutch: intussen (nl), ondertussen (nl)
• Esperanto: dume, samtempe
• Finnish: samaan aikaan
• French: pendant ce temps-là (fr), entretemps (fr), en attendant (fr)
• Galician: namentres (gl), entrementres (gl), entanto, encanto
• German: währenddessen (de), inzwischen (de), derweil (de), einstweilen (de)
• Greek: εν τω μεταξύ (en to metaxý)
• Hungarian: eközben (hu), ezalatt (hu), közben (hu)
• Icelandic: á meðan (is), í millitíðinni (is)
• Irish: lena linn sin
• Italian: intanto (it), nel frattempo, nel contempo, nel tempo stesso
• Latin: interim, tantisper
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: imens (no), i mellomtiden (no)

  Nynorsk: imens, i mellomtida

• Persian: در این فاصله (dar in fâsele)
• Polish: tymczasem (pl), na razie (pl), w międzyczasie (pl)
• Portuguese: ao mesmo tempo, simultaneamente (pt)
• Romanian: între timp
• Russian: в э́то вре́мя (v éto vrémja), в то́ же вре́мя (ru) (v tó že vrémja)
• Sardinian: in tantu, peristantu
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: u međuvremenu

• Slovene: medtem
• Spanish: mientras tanto
• Swedish: under tiden (sv), samtidigt (sv)
• Ukrainian: в то́й же ча́с (v tój že čás), тим ча́сом (tym čásom)
• Yiddish: דערווײַל (dervayl)

during the intervening time

• Arabic: أَمَّا (ar) (ʔammā), لَمَّا (lammā) فِي الأَثْنَاءِ (fī l-ʔaṯnāʔi)
• Belarusian: тым ча́сам (tym čásam), між ты́м (miž tým)
• Bulgarian: през това́ вре́ме (prez tová vréme)
• Catalan: mentrestant (ca), entretant (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 與此同時／与此同时 (zh) (yǔcǐtóngshí)

• Danish: imens, i mellemtiden
• Dutch: ondertussen (nl), intussen (nl), in de tussentijd
• Esperanto: dume
• Finnish: sillä aikaa (fi), sillä välin (fi)
• French: pendant ce temps-là (fr)
• Galician: namentres (gl), entrementres (gl), entanto
• German: währenddessen (de), unterdessen (de), in der Zwischenzeit, zwischenzeitlich (de), inzwischen (de)
• Greek: εν τω μεταξύ (en to metaxý)
• Hebrew: בינתיים (beintáyim)
• Hungarian: mindeközben (hu), időközben (hu)
• Icelandic: í millitíðinni (is), á meðan (is)
• Italian: intanto (it), nel frattempo, nel contempo, nel tempo stesso
• Japanese: その間に (sono aida ni)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: لە ھەمان کات (le heman kat)

• Latin: intereā
• Malay: sementara itu (ms), pada masa yang sama m pl
• Norwegian: imens (no)
• Polish: tymczasem (pl), w międzyczasie (pl)
• Portuguese: enquanto isso, entretanto (pt)
• Russian: тем вре́менем (ru) (tem vrémenem), ме́жду тем (ru) (méždu tem)
• Sardinian: in tantu, peristantu
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman: u međuvremenu

• Slovene: medtem
• Spanish: mientras tanto, entretanto (es), a todo esto, a todas estas
• Swedish: under tiden (sv), samtidigt (sv), under mellantiden
• Ukrainian: тим ча́сом (tym čásom), між ти́м (miž tým)

in contrast or opposed to aspects previously mentioned

• Danish: imidlertid
• Esperanto: tamen (eo)
• Hungarian: míg (hu), holott (hu), noha (hu), jóllehet (hu), azonban (hu), ugyanakkor (hu)
• Portuguese: no entanto (pt)

Anagrams

• main wheel, mainwheel