Worth spending time, effort, or money on because it's valuable, important, or will bring good results.
Compound of 'worth' (value) and 'while' (time). Both parts have Old English origins—'worth' from 'weorð' and 'while' from 'hwil' meaning 'a space of time.' The compound evolved in Middle English to describe something deserving of one's time investment.
The word 'worthwhile' literally asks 'is this worth my while?'—your time and effort. It's remarkable that in a world obsessed with productivity, we're still using medieval phrasing to question if something truly deserves our finite hours!
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