what

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt (“what”), from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat (“what”), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód (“what”), neuter form of *kʷós (“who”). Cognate with Scots what, whit (“what”), North Frisian wat (“what”), Saterland Frisian wat (“what”), West Frisian wat (“what”), Dutch wat (“what”), Low German wat (“what”), German was (“what”), Danish hvad (“what”), Norwegian Bokmål hva (“what”), Swedish vad (“what”), Norwegian Nynorsk kva (“what”), Icelandic hvað (“what”), Latin quod (“what, which”). Its use as a particle of contradiction or objection in colloquial Singaporean English is analogous to Cantonese 喎 / 㖞 (wo3, etymology 2, sense 3). It is possible that this was historically reinforced by the dated use of what as a sentence-final question tag in British English. === Pronunciation === (wine–whine merger) enPR: wŏt, Rhymes: -ɒt Homophones: Watt, watt, wot (Received Pronunciation, New Zealand, New York City) IPA(key): /wɒt/ (Standard Southern British, Australian) IPA(key): /wɔt/ (South Asia) IPA(key): /wʱɔʈ/ (father-bother merger) enPR: wät (US, sometimes) IPA(key): /wɑt/ (General South African) IPA(key): /wɑt/, /wɜt/ (South Asia) IPA(key): /wʱɑʈ/ (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwŏt, IPA(key): /ʍɒt/ (US, Canada, Singapore), Rhymes: -ʌt (wine–whine merger) enPR: wŭt, IPA(key): /wʌt/, (Singapore, as a particle) [wɐ(ː)t̚˨˩] (without the wine–whine merger) enPR: hwŭt, IPA(key): /ʍʌt/ (Canada, dialectal) IPA(key): /hɒt/, Homophone: hot === Determiner === what (interrogative) Which, especially which of an open-ended set of possibilities. (indirect interrogative) Which. (relative) Any ... that; all ... that; whatever. Emphasises that something is noteworthy or remarkable in quality or degree, in either a good or bad way; may be used in combination with certain other determiners, especially 'a', less often 'some'. (exclamative) Used to form exclamations indicating that something is remarkable, in either a good or bad way. Synonym: such Little Red Riding Hood, traditional folk tale “Oh Granny, what big eyes you have,” said Little Red Riding Hood. ==== Usage notes ==== In cases where both "what" and "which" are possible, with similar meaning, "what" is preferred for open-ended choices, while "which" is preferred for choices from a closed group or set. For example, "Which one of these do you want?" not "What one of these do you want?". As used to begin an exclamation, what and such are largely interchangeable, with a few exceptions: Nouns modified by such need not appear at the beginning of the sentence: She sings with such passion. such requires that the noun phrase it modifies be gradable in some way. Such a disaster! is acceptable because a disaster may be minor or major in degree, but Such a movie! is not (except with the unusual meaning that the movie under discussion has especially "movie-like" qualities). how is another word used at the beginning of a sentence to form an exclamation (How quickly he ran!), but it modifies different syntactic elements (verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and certain determinatives). ==== Translations ==== === Pronoun === what (interrogative) Which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc. My kids set the neighbor's cat on fire. —They did what? 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain) The gym is across from … what? — The gym is across from the lounge. — Across from the lounge. Right. Thanks! (fused relative) That which; those that; the thing(s) that. (fused relative) Anything that; all that; whatever. (relative, nonstandard or dialectal) That; which; who. 2026 June 1, Michael Wilson (King's Guide to the Sands), in "I took a long walk on a dangerous beach" (Tom Scott): It's all to do with the crossing in the river[,] what we're gonna get to shortly. [...] there's a trust what manages it for the king [..] ==== Translations ==== === Adverb === what (not comparable) (interrogative) In what way; to what extent. Used before a prepositional phrase to emphasise that something is taken into consideration as a cause or reason; usually used in combination with 'with' (see what with), and much less commonly with other prepositions. 1815, Rev. Mr. Milne, letter reprinted in The Evangelical Magazine and Missionary Chronicle, Volume 23, page 82. [2] The Chinese of all ranks, and in every place, received my books gladly, and listened with patience to what I had to say about the true God.—So that what from opportunities of attending to the object of my Mission among the Chinese—what from seasons of religious instruction to Dutch and English—what from intercourse with gentlemen of education and knowledge of the world—what from occasions of stating clearly the object of Missions, and of endeavouring to remove prejudices against them—and what from the view of a highly cultivated country, happy under an enlightened and liberal government, I have much reason to be satisfied with this journey [...] ==== Translations ==== === Interjection === what An expression of surprise or disbelief. What do you want? An abrupt, usually unfriendly enquiry as to what a person desires. (UK, colloquial, dated) Clipping of what do you say?, used as a type of tag question to emphasise a statement and invite agreement, often rhetorically. What did you say? I beg your pardon? This usage is often considered impolite, with the more polite "Pardon?" or "Excuse me?" preferred. Indicating a guess or approximation, or a pause to try to recall information. ==== Alternative forms ==== wha wat ==== Synonyms ==== (colloquial British interjection): what-what, wot (what did you say?): come again, pardon; see also Thesaurus:say again ==== Translations ==== === Noun === what (countable and uncountable, plural whats) (obsolete, uncountable) Something; thing; stuff. (countable) The identity of a thing, as an answer to a question of what. (countable) Something that is addressed by what, as opposed to a person, addressed by who. 2012, "We Are Both", season 2, episode 2 of Once Upon a Time Regina: What are you? Rumplestiltskin: What? What? What? My, my, what a rude question! I am not a what. === Particle === what (Singlish, Manglish) Emphasizes the truth of an assertion made to contradict an evidently false assumption held by the listener. Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩] (Singlish, Manglish) Used to invite agreement or acknowledgment when something is assumed to be straightforward or already obvious to begin with; similar in function to “right?” and “as you know”. Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩] Synonym: mah (Singlish, Manglish) Used after a direct assertion to reinforce a disagreeing opinion. Synonym: (less assertive) leh Pitch contour: low [wʌt˩], low-dipping [wʌt˨˩] ==== Usage notes ==== Only used at the end of sentences. === Derived terms === === See also === === References === Low, Ee Ling; Brown, Adam (2005), English in Singapore: An Introduction, →ISBN Kuteva, Tania; Rhee, Seongha; Ziegeler, Debra; Sabban, Jessica (2018), “On sentence-final “what” in Singlish: Are you the Queen of England, or what?”, in Journal of Language Contact‎[4] === Anagrams === HAWT, Thaw, Wath, hawt, thaw, wath == Chinese == === Alternative forms === What === Etymology === From clipping of English WhatsApp. === Pronunciation === === Verb === what (Hong Kong Cantonese) to WhatsApp; to send via WhatsApp == Middle English == === Etymology 1 === From Old English hwæt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷód. ==== Alternative forms ==== whad, whote, watte, wath, wad, qhat whæt, whæht, waht, waet, wæht, weht, hweat (Southern West Mid) ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): /ʍat/, /wat/ ==== Pronoun ==== what what ===== Descendants ===== English: what Scots: what, whate, whit, whut, wha', quhat, quat, fat, faht, phat, fit, fut, fout, at Yola: faade, fhaade, faad, fade, fa'de, f'ad ==== Adverb ==== what Why. Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both...and... ===== Descendants ===== Yola: fad ==== References ==== “what, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. “what, adv. & conj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007. === Etymology 2 === ==== Noun ==== what alternative form of whate == Scots == === Etymology 1 === From Middle English what, from Old English hwæt, from Proto-West Germanic *hwat. Cognates include English what and Yola faade. ==== Alternative forms ==== whate, whit, whut, wha', quhat, quat, fat, faht, phat, fit, fut, fout, at ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): [ʍɑt], [ʍo̞t], [ʍɪt], [ʍʌt], [ʍɑʔ] IPA(key): (Shetland) [kwɑt] ==== Pronoun ==== what (interrogative) what? (relative) that, which ==== Adverb ==== what (interrogative) how? (interrogative) why? (relative) as, than, how (exclamatory) how! ==== Determiner ==== what (interrogative) what? (relative) what, which (exclamatory) what a lot of! how many! === Etymology 2 === From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan, from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjan. Cognates include English whet. ==== Alternative forms ==== whatt ==== Pronunciation ==== IPA(key): [ʍɑt] ==== Verb ==== what (third-person singular simple present whats, present participle whatin, simple past and past participle whatt) (transitive) to whet, hone, sharpen === References === == Yola == === Etymology === From Middle English whetten, from Old English hwettan, from Proto-West Germanic *hwattjan. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /hwat/ === Verb === what to whet === References === Jacob Poole (d. 1827) (before 1828), William Barnes, editor, A Glossary, With some Pieces of Verse, of the old Dialect of the English Colony in the Baronies of Forth and Bargy, County of Wexford, Ireland, London: J. Russell Smith, published 1867, page 78