whatever

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /wɒtˈev.ə/, US /wʌtˈev.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is a Middle English compound of what and ever,^[2][3][4] an emphatic form of what.^[2][5] It is poetically contracted to whate'er.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an emphatic interrogative pronoun, “what in the world”, from the 14th century in the OED^[5] and the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[2]

Semantic evolution

“Anything at all; no matter what”, as in whatever may come, is from the late 14th century, as is the adjective “any sort of, every, no matter what”.^[2][5] The adjective “at all”, after a negative, as in no doubt whatever, is from 1395 in the Historical Thesaurus's dating.^[6] The adverb “whatever may be the case, at any event” is attested by 1870, in dialect and colloquial use;^[2][5] Etymonline suggests it may be the source of the modern dismissive whatever of teenage slang, which Partridge dates to 1989, or that this comes from or whatever after a word.^[2]

Timeline

• 14th century – emphatic “what”.^[5][2]
• late 14th century – anything at all; adjective.^[2]
• 1870 – adverb, at all events.^[2][5]
• 1989 – dismissive slang.^[2]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. Everything or anything that: take whatever you want.
2. No matter what: whatever happens.
3. (informal) Which thing or what, used for emphasis in questions: whatever did he mean?
4. (informal) Something similar: tea or coffee or whatever.

Adjective

1. Of any number or kind; any.
2. Of any kind at all: no money whatever.

Interjection

1. (slang) Used to show indifference or dismissal.

Word family

• whatsoever

Related words

• however
• howsoever
• whenever
• whensoever
• wheresoever
• wherever
• whichever
• whichsoever
• whoever
• whomever
• whomsoever
• whosoever
• what
• ever

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary notes that both whatever and what ever are used in questions such as Whatever made her say that?; critics have sometimes objected to the one-word form, but it has extensive precedent in reputable writing, as do whoever, whenever, wherever and however.^[7]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin