Etymologically
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whom

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 15 October 2026 at 17:04. This address is a permanent link to this version.
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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for whom is attested from about 1300,[3] and whom used for who, as in whom I believe to be, from about 1000.[6] It is no longer current in natural colloquial speech,[6] and is now chiefly formal.[5] Whomso is from the 12th century, whomever from the 14th and whomsoever from the 15th.[4]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

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