Etymologically
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whoever

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /huːˈev.ə/, /hʊˈev.ə/, US /huːˈev.ɚ/[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of who and ever,[2][3] from late Old English hwā ǣfre, introducing clauses.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Any person whatever, as a compound relative: late Old English in Etymonline, about 1175 in the OED.[2][4]

Semantic evolution

By the late 14th century it was used as “is there anyone who”.[2] Introducing a clause with conditional force, “no matter who”, is from 1500–20.[4] Its use for the object, “anyone whom”, is from 1592 and was called ungrammatical by the OED,[4] as in Shakespeare's “Whoe'er you find attach”.[3] As an emphatic form of who in questions (whoever could that be?) it is from 1875.[4] The related whosoever is attested from about 1200.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – any person who.[4]
  • c. 1200 – whosoever.[2]
  • 1500–20 – no matter who.[4]
  • 1592 – for whomever.[4]
  • 1875 – emphatic who.[4]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

  1. Any person who: whoever wants it can have it.
  2. No matter who.
  3. An emphatic form of who in questions: whoever told you that?
  4. (informal) Some unknown or unnamed person: John, Cathy or whoever.

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press