whilom

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The Word of the Day for October 7 is:

whilom   \WYE-lum\   adjective
     : former

Example sentence:
     "On the eastern side settlement and agriculture have all 
but obliterated the whilom tallgrass prairie...." (William Least 
Heat-Moon, _The Atlantic_, September 1991)

Did you know?
     "Whilom" shares an ancestor with the word "while." Both 
trace back to the Old English word "hwil," meaning "time" 
or "while." In Old English "hwilum" was an adverb meaning "at 
times." This use passed into Middle English (with a variety of 
spellings, one of which was "whilom"), and in the 12th century 
the word acquired the meaning "formerly." The adverb's usage 
dwindled toward the end of the 19th century, and it has since 
been labeled "archaic." The adjective first appeared on the 
scene in the 15th century, with the now-obsolete 
meaning "deceased, late," and by the end of the 16th century it 
was being used with the meaning "former." It's a relatively 
uncommon word, but it does see occasional use.