Etymograph

English

which

Which comes from Old English hwelċ ‘which’, from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz ‘what kind of’ (literally ‘like what’), and ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European interrogative root *kʷ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-1‘interrogative root’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷos2‘interrogative pronoun’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwaz1‘who, what’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwilīkaz1‘what kind of’literally ‘like what’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hwelċ1‘which’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500which1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526which1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English which
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hwaz
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷ-Wiktionary, English which‘interrogative root’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kʷosWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *hwaz‘interrogative pronoun’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwazWiktionary, English which‘who, what’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*hwilīkazWiktionary, English which‘what kind of’literally ‘like what’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150hwelċWiktionary, English which‘which’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500whichWiktionary, English which
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1526whichWiktionary, English which. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1526, [William Tyndale, The Newe Testamẽt […] (Tyndale Bible): “The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode…”

The story

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.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with which, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- ‘the primary interrogative root’

  • how ← hū ← *hwō ← *hwō ← *kʷís
  • what ← hwæt ← *hwat ← *hwat ← *kʷís
  • when ← when(ne) ← hwonne ← *hwannē ← *hwan
  • why ← hwȳ ← *hwiu ← *hwī ← *kʷey
  • quantity ← quantite ← quantité ← quantitās ← quantus
  • ubiquitous ← ubīquitās ← ubīque ← ubī̆ ← cubī
  • quip ← quippe ← quid ← *kʷid ← *kʷid
  • ubiquity ← ubīquitās ← ubīque ← ubī̆ ← cubī

through Proto-Indo-European *kʷos ‘interrogative pronoun’

  • elsewhere ← elswher ← elles hwǣr ← hwerġen ← *hwargin
  • neutral ← neutrālis ← neuter ← uter ← *kʷoteros
  • rapunzel ← raponzolo ← rapa ← rāpa ← neuter
  • cadenza ← cadentia ← cadēns ← neuter ← uter

24 more relatives in the full family tree

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Today it means

det What, of those mentioned or implied.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “which”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *hwaz. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *kʷ- / which