what

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English what, spelt whæt in Layamon's Chronicle of Britain and whatt in the “Ormulum”,^[2] inherited from Old English hwæt,^[3][4][2][5] the neuter of hwā (“who”).^[4][6][7][8] It comes from Proto-Germanic *hwat,^[9][10][11] from Proto-Indo-European *kʷod, the neuter of the pronoun meaning "who", from the root *kʷo-, the stem of the relative and interrogative pronouns.^[9][3][11] It is cognate with Old Frisian hwet, Old Saxon hwat, Dutch wat, Old High German hwaz, German was, Old Norse hvat, Danish hvad and Swedish vad,^{[12][9][2][13]} and the same Indo-European form gave Latin quod (“what, which”).^[11][13][5] Etymonline compares Latin quid.^[9] The Shorter Oxford compares when, where and why.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an exclamation calling for attention, hwæt is the first word of Beowulf, about 725;^[2][9] as a pronoun it is recorded before 735, in Bede's Death Song.^[2] In Old English it was already used in direct and indirect questions about the identity of a thing, and to ask how much or how many.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Old English hwæt was also used as an adverb meaning "why" and as a particle meaning "indeed, surely",^[9][15] and late Old English used it as a conjunction.^[9] Use as an interrogative adjective ("what man?") and as a relative pronoun, "that which", is recorded from the 12th century, and the indefinite sense "somewhat" from the 13th.^[11] Merriam-Webster dates the adjective to the 13th century.^[4] From about 1300 what? alone asked a speaker to repeat something, and what ho! was a call or summons by the late 14th century.^[9] To know what is what is from about 1400;^[9] Weekley quotes Ywaine and Gawin for what was what.^[7] Phrases such as what d'ye call it and what not appeared in the 16th century,^[11] and the noun whatnot is recorded from 1576, after the phrase what not? of 1540;^[2] as a piece of furniture for odds and ends it dates from the 19th century.^[11] Johnson (1755) gave "that which" as its first sense.^[16] A tag what? at the end of a sentence, typical of affected British speech, is recorded by 1785.^[9] Give someone what for (1873), according to Weekley, was to answer a protesting what for? with further blows.^[9][7] In north-eastern Scotland wh- became f-, as in fat's wrang for "what's wrong", and the English Dialect Dictionary records forms such as whit, whut and wot.^[17]

Timeline

• c. 725 – hwæt, an exclamation calling for attention, at the opening of Beowulf.^[2][9]
• before 735 – pronoun, in Bede's Death Song.^[2]
• Old English – in direct and indirect questions about a thing; asking how much or how many.^[12]
• 12th century – interrogative adjective; relative pronoun, that which.^[11]
• c. 1225 – before an infinitive, as in knowing what to do.^[12]
• 13th century – indefinite, somewhat.^[11]
• c. 1300 – what?, asking a speaker to repeat something.^[9]
• late 14th century – what ho! and what for?, for what reason.^[9]
• c. 1400 – what the devil and to know what is what.^[9]
• 1540 – the phrase what not.^[2]
• 1766 – or what ending a question.^[9]
• 1785 – what? as a tag at the end of a sentence.^[9]
• 1873 – to give someone what for.^[9]
• 1881 – what's up?, what is happening?^[9]
• 1925 – what have you, anything else of the kind.^[9]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. Which thing or things; used to ask about the identity or nature of something: What did the letter say?^[4][18]
2. The thing or things that; that which: Take what you need.^[18][16]
3. How much; used to ask about amount or price: What does a ticket cost?^[19][12]

Adjective

1. Which one or ones; used in questions: What train did she catch?^[20][4][18]
2. Whatever; any that: He gave what help he could.^[20][18]
3. How great or remarkable, in exclamations: What a view!^[20][19][18]

Adverb

1. In what respect; how: What does it matter?^[20][4]
2. what with: partly because of, used before a list of causes: What with the rain and the traffic, we were late.^[4][20]

Interjection

1. Used to express surprise or disbelief.^[20]
2. Used as a tag question at the end of a sentence, often to invite agreement.^[20][9]

Related words

• who
• whatever
• whatsoever
• whatnot
• somewhat
• when
• where
• why
• whet

Usage notes

As the subject of a clause, what takes a singular verb when it means "the thing that" and a plural verb when it means "the things that".^[20] In nonstandard use it introduces a clause after than ("better than what I can").^[4] English also had an adjective what, quick, active, bold, from Old English to about 1275; it is a separate word, related to whet.^[12][15]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
12. ^ a b c d e f Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
14. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b Bosworth, Joseph; Toller, T. Northcote (1898), An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press; Toller, T. Northcote (1921), Supplement
16. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
17. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
18. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
19. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
20. ^ a b c d e f g h The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin