# erstwhile

Pronunciation: say "URST-wyl" US /ˈɝst.waɪl/, UK /ˈɜː(ɹ)st.waɪl/

## Adjective

1. Belonging to an earlier time; having once been a particular person or thing, but no longer.
   - Simple: Used to describe what a person or thing once was, but no longer is.
   - _The court heard that the company's erstwhile directors had signed off on the loans._
   - _Pensioners of the erstwhile municipal corporation are still waiting for their dues._
3. Respected or honorable, in a use of the word that is often criticized as incorrect. *(nonstandard)*
   - Simple: Respected or deserving honor, but many people say using the word with that meaning is a mistake.

## Adverb

2. At some earlier time; in the past. *(literary)*
   - Simple: At a time in the past, before now.
   - _The gallery now fills rooms erstwhile used as the bank's vaults._
   - _Her grandmother, erstwhile a teacher at the village school, still corrected everyone's grammar at dinner._

## Origin

Formed from erst, meaning 'first' or 'formerly', combined with while.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/erstwhile (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).