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

  1. Of whom, belonging to whom; Of which, belonging...

Ancestry of “whose”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishwhoswhose genitive
2Old Englishhwæsgenitive singular of hwā; genitive singular of...
3Proto-Germanichwes—
4Proto-Germanichwazwho, what; whose; whom
5Proto-Indo-EuropeankʷosSee *kʷis
6Proto-Indo-Europeankʷ-The primary interrogative root

Words derived from “whose”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷ- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European kʷos →Every word from Proto-Germanic hwaz →