A Dictionary of the Older Scottish Tongue (up to 1700)
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First published 1971 (DOST Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Mene quhile, Mein quhill, n. and adv. (conj.). Also: meine, meyn(e, mean(e and quhyll, quhyle, while, whyle. [ME. mene while (c 1350), meene (Chaucer), e.m.E. mean while: see Mene a.2 3 (and cf. Mene time).] Appar. more often written as two words.
1. n. In (into) the mene quhile. = Mene time n. 1.(1) c1400 Troy-bk. ii. 2210.
That he wald cum in-to the meyne-quhile And be with thaim 1513 Doug. i. iv. 41.
In the meyn quhile Eneas the bank on hie Has clummyn Ib. iii. vii. 1. Ib. iv. iv. 63. 1521 Edinb. B. Rec. I. 204.
And nocht tocum thairintill in the meynquhill 1533 Boece xiii. ix. 518. 15.. Clar. v. 2491.
In the meine quhyll 1570 Leslie 86.
In the meane whyie, King Henry … past in France(2) 1600 Crim. Trials II. 156.
In the meane quhill of the said strugling my lord fell on his henche and elbo
2. adv. Meantime. b. conj. During the time that, while. 1649 Elgin Rec. II. 435.
Meanquhill altum silentium 16.. R. Gordon in Macfarlane's Geog. Coll. II. 399.
Mean whyle this was a doing the full parliament conveened not
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"Mene Quhile n., adv.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 24 Apr 2024 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/dost/mene_quhile>
