whom English · revision 2731
15 Oct 2026, 17:04 by bogdan “en10k b0091: exchange … whom” current version
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+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 825|origins=ine-pro *kʷos}}
+
+ ==Pronunciation==
+ * IPA: /huːm/^(Roach et al. 2011)
+
+ ==Etymology==
+ It is [[inh|enm|whom]],^(MWU 2024) [[inh|ang|hwām|t=to whom]], a late variant of hwǣm, the dative of [[m|ang|hwā|t=who]] and hwæt “what”,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002) from Proto-Germanic *hwam,^(Etymonline) from [[ine-pro|*kʷos|alt=*kwo-]], the stem of relative and interrogative pronouns.^(Etymonline) It is cognate with Old Frisian hwam, Old Saxon hwem, German wem and Gothic hwamma.^(SOED 2002) In its later uses whom took over the functions of the Old English accusative hwone as well as the dative.^(Hoad 1986)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==
+ As an indirect object or after a preposition: about 825; as a direct object, 971.^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==Semantic evolution==
+ ''Whom'' is the objective case of [[who]].^(AHD)^(OED 1989) The ungrammatical use of ''who'' for ''whom'' is attested from about 1300,^(Etymonline) and ''whom'' used for ''who'', as in ''whom I believe to be'', from about 1000.^(OED 1989) It is no longer current in natural colloquial speech,^(OED 1989) and is now chiefly formal.^(SOED 2002) ''Whomso'' is from the 12th century, ''whomever'' from the 14th and ''whomsoever'' from the 15th.^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Timeline==
+ * c. 825 – indirect object.^(OED 1989)
+ * 971 – direct object.^(OED 1989)
+ * c. 1300 – ''who'' for ''whom''.^(Etymonline)
+ * 14th century – ''whomever''.^(Hoad 1986)
+
+ ==Modern meaning==
+ ===Pronoun===
+ # The [[object]] form of ''who'', used as the object of a verb or [[preposition]]: ''to whom it may concern'', ''the friend whom I met''.^(AHD)^(OED 1989)
+
+ ==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.^(OED 1989)^(SOED 2002)
+
+ ==References==
+ {{reflist}}