whom

Pronunciation

• IPA: /huːm/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English whom,^[2] inherited from Old English hwām (“to whom”), a late variant of hwǣm, the dative of hwā (“who”) and hwæt “what”,^[3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *hwam,^[3] from Proto-Indo-European *kwo-, the stem of relative and interrogative pronouns.^[3] It is cognate with Old Frisian hwam, Old Saxon hwem, German wem and Gothic hwamma.^[5] In its later uses whom took over the functions of the Old English accusative hwone as well as the dative.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an indirect object or after a preposition: about 825; as a direct object, 971.^[6]

Semantic evolution

Whom is the objective case of who.^[7][6] The ungrammatical use of who for whom is attested from about 1300,^[3] and whom used for who, as in whom I believe to be, from about 1000.^[6] It is no longer current in natural colloquial speech,^[6] and is now chiefly formal.^[5] Whomso is from the 12th century, whomever from the 14th and whomsoever from the 15th.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 825 – indirect object.^[6]
• 971 – direct object.^[6]
• c. 1300 – who for whom.^[3]
• 14th century – whomever.^[4]

Modern meaning

Pronoun

1. The object form of who, used as the object of a verb or preposition: to whom it may concern, the friend whom I met.

Word family

• whomever

Related words

• who
• whose
• what

Usage notes

In everyday speech who is usually used for both subject and object (who did you see?), but whom is still used directly after a preposition (to whom) and in formal writing.^[6][5]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b c d e Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin