Where does “whatevers” come from?
whatevers (English) comes from English whatever, from English what, from Middle English what, from Old English hwæt, from Old English -ing, from Old English -tūn, from Old English tūn, from Proto-West Germanic tūn — smoke; mist, haze.
Ancestry of “whatevers”, step by step
whatevers traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English whatever
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | whatever | No matter what; for any; Anything that; Anything |
| 2 | English | what | Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used... |
| 3 | Middle English | what | what |
| 4 | Old English | hwæt | what; why; how many or how much |
| 5 | Old English | -ing | Forming nouns from verbs, indicating action,... |
| 6 | Old English | -tūn | homestead, village, town |
| 7 | Old English | tūn | enclosure, yard; place; dwelling |
| 8 | Proto-West Germanic | tūn | fence |
| 9 | Proto-Germanic | tūną | fence; enclosure |
| 10 | Gaulish | dunum | fort; hill, hillfort |
| 11 | Proto-Celtic | dūnom | stronghold, rampart |
| 12 | Proto-Indo-European | dʰewh₂- | smoke; mist, haze |
via English S
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | S | The ordinal number nineteenth, derived from this... |