Where does “whose” come from?
Whose comes from Middle English whos, Old English hwæs, Proto-Germanic hwes, and Proto-Indo-European kʷós, the interrogative and relative pronoun stem for "who."
whose (English): Of whom, belonging to whom; Of which, belonging...
Definitions
- Of whom, belonging to whom; Of which, belonging...
Ancestry of “whose”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | whos | — |
| 2 | Old English | hwæs | genitive singular of hwā; genitive singular of... |
| 3 | Proto-Germanic | hwes | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | hwaz | who, what; whose; whom |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷos | See *kʷis |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | kʷ- | The primary interrogative root |
Words derived from “whose”