conjunction / adverb / noun
when
WEN/wen/
The time or occasion at which something happens.
The theatergoer asks when the performance starts while pointing to his watch.
Etymology
Old English hwænne is the ancestor of this time-word. Its history connects asking “at what time?” with identifying “the time that” something happens.
In context
when was that and that was around late December during early January
More examples
- Call me when you arrive.
- We remember when this was farmland.
- The when matters as much as the where.
Forms
when
Similar words
- at what time
- A direct phrase equivalent in questions about timing.