which
Language: English
Part of speech: pron
Pronunciation: enpr: wĭch
ipa: /wɪt͡ʃ/
note: without the wine–whine merger
enpr: hwĭch
ipa: /ʍɪt͡ʃ/
note: without the wine–whine merger
rhymes: -ɪtʃ
homophone: witch
homophone: wich
homophone: wych (wine–whine merger)
Forms: form: whiche
form: wich
Etymology: From Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz, equivalent to who + like.
Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).
Senses: examples: text: Which is which?
text: By now, you must surely know which is which.
text: Which is bigger, the red one or the blue one?
text: I'm unable to determine which is bigger.
text: Which's your spouse? -The one in trousers.
text: Which of these banes of modern business life is worse remains open to debate. But what is clear is that office workers are on a treadmill of pointless activity. Managers allow meetings to drag on for hours. Workers generate e-mails because it requires little effort and no thought. An entire management industry exists to spin the treadmill ever faster.
ref: 2013 August 17, Schumpeter, “In praise of laziness”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8849:
glosses: What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied).
examples: text: Please take which you please.
glosses: The/Any ones that; whichever.
raw_tags: not in common use
examples: text: I dropped a saucepan, which knocked over the eggs, which went all over the kitchen floor.
text: I found my camera, which I thought I'd lost, under the bed.
text: I entered the room, at the far end of which was a small table.
text: Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
ref: 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
text: There was a neat hat-and-umbrella stand, and the stranger's weary feet fell soft on a good, serviceable dark-red drugget, which matched in colour the flock-paper on the walls.
ref: 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC, page 0091:
text: Many genes with reproductive roles also have antibacterial and immune functions, which indicate that the threat of microbial attack on the sperm or egg may be a major influence on rapid evolution during reproduction.
ref: 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
glosses: In a non-restrictive relative clause, referring to something previously mentioned.
Referring to a preceding noun.
examples: text: She had a young child, which cried incessantly.
glosses: In a non-restrictive relative clause, referring to something previously mentioned.
Referring to a preceding noun.
Used of people (now generally who, whom, that; which remains possible with words also referred to by it such as baby, child).
examples: text: The front door was open, which concerned me.
text: He had to leave, which was very difficult.
text: She saved my life, for which I am eternally grateful.
text: Plastics are energy-rich substances, which is why many of them burn so readily. Any organism that could unlock and use that energy would do well in the Anthropocene. Terrestrial bacteria and fungi which can manage this trick are already familiar to experts in the field.
ref: 2013 July 20, “Welcome to the plastisphere”, in The Economist, volume 408, number 8845:
glosses: In a non-restrictive relative clause, referring to something previously mentioned.
Referring to a preceding statement.
examples: text: This is the letter which I received.
text: This is the letter in which he explains his decision.
text: Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...
ref: 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 1:1:
glosses: In a restrictive relative clause, referring to a noun previously mentioned.
examples: text: The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.
ref: 1526, [William Tyndale, transl.], The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible), [Worms, Germany: Peter Schöffer], →OCLC, Acts:
glosses: In a restrictive relative clause, referring to a noun previously mentioned.
Used of people.
Derived terms: every which way
every which where
whichever
which is to say
which is which
which-path information
whichsoever