Editing While (section)

===Usage===
In standard [[British English]] and [[Australian English]], ''whilst'', as a conjunction, is synonymous with ''although'', ''whereas'', ''but'' or ''while''. Unlike ''whilst'', ''while'' is also used as a noun (as in "rest for a while") or a verb (as in "while away the hours").

The usage of ''whilst'' is chiefly British.<ref name="Garner_Page_943">{{cite book |last1=Garner |first1=Bryan A. |title=Garner's Dictionary of Legal Usage |date=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=Oxford |isbn=9780195384208 |page=943 |edition=3rd |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1m1bI5vCooC&pg=PA943 |access-date=September 10, 2023}}</ref> For example, the BBC World Service website "Learning English", in their "Ask about English" section, uses the word ''whilst'' when explaining the usage of "while and whereas".<ref>"Note that ''whilst'' we would use ''while'' or ''whereas'' within sentences to contrast two ideas, across sentences we would need to use 'however' or 'on the other hand'."(italics added).{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv69.shtml|title=BBC World Service: 'Learning English' | access-date=2012-04-19}}</ref>

In [[American English]], ''whilst'' is considered to be pretentious, archaic, and obsolete.<ref name="Garner_Page_943" /><ref>Strunk, W., and White, E.B. ''The Elements of Style''. 4th ed. 2000. Allyn & Bacon, Boston. Pg. 63-64.</ref>

Some publications on both sides of the Atlantic disapprove of ''whilst'' in their style guides (along with other words ending in "st"; "amidst", "amongst", "unbeknownst", etc.); for example:
* BBC News: "'''while''' and '''not''' 'whilst'"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/journalism/news-style-guide/article/art20130702112133606 |title=BBC News Style Guide - W}}</ref>
* Times Online Style Guide: "'''while''' (not whilst)"<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2941-583,00.html |location=London |work=The Times |title=Online Style Guide W |first=Jeremy |last=Kelly |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331002842/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2941-583,00.html |archive-date=March 31, 2007 }}</ref>
* Guardian Style Guide: "'''while''' not whilst"<ref>{{cite news|title=Guardian Style Guide |url=https://www.theguardian.com/styleguide/w | location=London | work=The Guardian | date=2014-01-26}}</ref>
* Hansard: the Canadian Parliament record: "'''while''' not whilst"<ref>[http://www.hansard.ca/styleguide.pdf Hansard Association of Canada Style Guide]</ref>

The [[Houghton Mifflin Harcourt|American Heritage Guide]] writes that, "while using ''whilst'' runs the risk of sounding pretentious, it can sometimes add a literary or ironically formal note to a piece of writing".<ref>{{cite book| last = Company| first = Houghton Mifflin| title = The American Heritage guide to contemporary usage and style| url = https://archive.org/details/americanheritage00dict| url-access = limited| year = 2005| publisher = Houghton Mifflin Harcourt| isbn = 978-0-618-60499-9| page = [https://archive.org/details/americanheritage00dict/page/n522 503] }}</ref>

''[[Practical English Usage]]'' by [[Michael Swan (writer)|Michael Swan]] ([[Oxford University Press|OUP]]), a reference book for intermediate and advanced learners of English, does not include ''whilst'' but has several sections covering the usage of ''while''.