whatsoever

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ˌwɒt.səʊˈev.ə/, US /ˌwʌt.soʊˈev.ɚ/^[1]

Etymology

It is apparently whatso, whatever (about 1200, a contraction of Old English hwæt swā), with ever added,^[2][3] or perhaps from what and soever, “at all” (by the late 12th century);^[2] either way it is a double intensive of what.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

As a pronoun, whatever: about 1250 in the OED, the mid-13th century in Etymonline, as quuat-so-euere.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

As an adjective it is from the mid-15th century, 1484 in the OED.^[2][4] Middle English also had what-sum-ever (early 14th century),^[2] and poetry contracted it to whatsoe'er.^[2] Today it is used mostly after a negative as an intensifier, “at all” (no doubt whatsoever), while the pronoun use is archaic.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – whatso.^[2]
• c. 1250 – whatsoever (pronoun).^[4]
• 1484 – adjective use.^[4]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. At all; used after a negative for emphasis: no reason whatsoever.

Pronoun

1. (archaic) Whatever.

Related words

• whatever
• what
• soever
• whosoever

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins