whenever
This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 21:12. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Pronunciation
- IPA: UK /wenˈev.ə/, US /wenˈev.ɚ/[1]
Etymology
It is inherited from Middle English whanne-ever, when ever,[2][3] a compound of when and ever.[2][4][3] It is contracted in poetry to whene'er.[2][4]
Earliest recorded meaning
“At any time when; every time that”: the mid-14th century in Etymonline,[2] about 1380 in the OED.[5] Middle English also had whan-so-ever “at whatsoever time”, by the late 14th century.[2]
Semantic evolution
“As soon as, at the very moment when” is from 1655, and is now only Scots and Irish English.[5][4] As an emphatic interrogative, “when ever?”, properly written separately, it is from 1713 in the OED,[5] and colloquial.[4] As an adverb Merriam-Webster dates it to about 1576.[6]
Timeline
Modern meaning
Conjunction
- At whatever time: come whenever you like.
- Every time that: whenever it rains, the roof leaks.
Adverb
- When; at what time, used for emphasis in questions: whenever did you find the time?
Related words
- however
- howsoever
- whatever
- whatsoever
- wherever
- wheresoever
- whoever
- whomever
- whomsoever
- whosoever
- when
- ever
- whensoever
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
- ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ a b c d Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ a b c d e f Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster