Etymograph

English

whoever

Whoever comes from Middle English whoever.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500whoever1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2014whoever1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English whoever
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Peter FitzSimons, Ian Thorpe acknowledges he's gay, let's hope he's now happy : “When the gays can claim the toughest bastard whoever…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500whoeverWiktionary, English whoever
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2014whoeverWiktionary, English whoever. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2014, Peter FitzSimons, Ian Thorpe acknowledges he's gay, let's hope he's now happy : “When the gays can claim the toughest bastard whoever…”

Explore everything descended from whoever →

No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.

Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app

Today it means

pron Who ever: an emphatic form of who.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “whoever”. 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 / Middle English whoever / whoever