| 释义 |
▪ I. what, pron., a.1, adv., conj., int. (n.)|hwɒt|
Forms: 1 hwæt, huæt, huæd, 1–4 hwet, 2–4 hwat, wet, 2–5 wat, 3 (Orm.) watt, whæt, wæt, (waht, wæht, whæht, weht, ȝwat), 3–4 whet, (4 huet, wad), 3 (Orm.), 5 whatt, 3–6 whate, (5 whad, wath), 5–6 whatte, (9 dial. or vulgar wot), 3– what; 3–5 north. quat, (3 quuat, 4–5 quatt, qwat, 5 qhat), 4–8 Sc. quhat.
[OE. hwæt = OFris. hwet, wet, haet, hat, etc. (Fris. wæt, wat, wut, haet, etc.), OS. huat, (M)LG., (M)Du. wat, OHG. hwaȥ, waȥ (MHG. waȥ, G. was), ON. hvat (Sw. vad, Da. hvad), Goth. hwa:—OTeut. *χwat:—Indo-eur. *qwod (cf. L. quod), neut. sing. of the interrog. pron. *qwos who, q.v.]
Of the various possible arrangements of the uses of this word the following has been adopted as likely to be most convenient to the reader. The main classification is according to meaning: Branch A. comprises the uses of what as an Interrogative, B. as an Exclamatory word, C. as a Relative, D. as an Indefinite (non-relative), and E. as a Substantive. Within these divisions meanings and uses are arranged according to the part of speech; the following is a key to this arrangement:—Pronominal and substantival uses, A. 1–12, B. 6, C. 1–7, D. 1, E. 1–3; Adjectival, A. 13–18, B. 5, C. 8–10; Adverbial or Conjunctional, A. 19–21, B. 4, C. 11–12, D. 2; Interjectional, B. 1–3.
A. Interrogative and allied uses.
I. pron.
* In direct questions.
1. As the ordinary interrogative pronoun of neuter gender, orig. sing., in later use also pl., used of a thing or things: corresponding to the demonstrative that (that dem. pron. B. 1 a).
c888ælfred Boeth. xvi. §1 Hwæt mæᵹ ic þy mare secgan be þæm weorðscipe..þisse worulde? 971Blickl. Hom. 15 Hwæt wilt þu þæt ic þe do? a1000Sal. & Sat. xix. (1848) 184 Hwæt hatte Noes wif? a1175Cott. Hom. 233 Unwraste man, wat lacede ȝeu an alle mire rice? c1200Ormin 10970 Whatt wass þatt te Faderr sellf Þær off hiss Sune seȝȝde? c1205Lay. 3004 Waet seist tu? Ibid. 29623–4 Whæt þenchest þu, Austin, what þenchest þu, leof min? 12..Moral Ode 46 (Egerton MS.) Wet sulle hi segge oþer don at þe muchele dome? 1340Ayenb. 265 Sleȝþe zayþ, ‘God, wet ssolle we do?’ a1400Pistill of Susan 287 What signefyes, gode sone, þese sawus þat þou seis? c1440Alphabet of Tales 50 Þe furste question was þis, What was þe grettest mervayle & fayrest þing þat evur God made in leste rowme? 1470–85Malory Arthur vi. xiv. 205 What is your broders name? c1485Digby Myst. iii. 1249 Qwat sey ȝe? 1560Bible (Geneva) Ezra v. 4 What are the names of the men..? Ibid. Zech. xiii. 6 What are these woundes in thine hands? 1582Allen Martyrdom Campion (1908) 65 One demaunded, ‘What do you meane by Catholike Religion?’ 1697Dryden æneis x. 949 What will they say of their deserting Chief? 1749Fielding Tom Jones viii. xii, ‘Nubbing Cheat’, cries Partridge, ‘pray, Sir, what is that?’ Ibid. xv. xii, ‘What is the Name of the Street?’ cries Jones. 1782F. Burney Cecilia vii. ii, Odd people? and in what are we so very odd? 1853C. M. Yonge Heir of Redclyffe xxv, What has come to you? 1863Thackeray Round. Papers, Autour de mon Chapeau, What are the technical words..? 1884W. S. Gilbert Princ. Ida ii, Flo. But what are these? Hil... Why, Academic robes, Worn by the lady undergraduates, When they matriculate. 1905R. Bagot Passport xx, I do not find the female society of Montefiano very—what shall I say?—sharpening to the intellect.
2. Of a person (or persons), in predicative use (cf. that dem. pron. B. 1 b): formerly generally, in reference to name or identity, and thus equivalent to who; in later use only in reference to nature, character, function, or the like. Also in phr. † what for a{ddd} = what kind of: see for prep. 19 c.
For the OE. construction with a partitive gen. see 13.
c1000Ags. Ps. (Th.) xxiii[i]. 10 Hwæt is se ᵹewuldroda kyning? [L. Quis est iste rex gloriæ?] 1000ælfric Gen. xxvii. 32 Þa cwæð Isaac: Hwæt eart þu? He andwirde and cwæð: Ic eom Esau. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 167 Hwat is þis þe astihȝð alse dai rieme? c1205Lay. 25869 Whæt ært þu, fære wiht [MS. whit]? eært þu angel, eært [þu] cnih[t]? Ibid. 27372 What beoð þeos ut-laȝen? a1300Cursor M. 3685 ‘And quat art þou?’ þe fader said, ‘Sir, i esau, þi met es graithid.’ Ibid. 13592 ‘Quat haldes þou þat man?’ said þai. ‘A prophet,’ said he. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. ii. 15 ‘What is þis wommon’, quod I, ‘þus wonderliche A-tyret?’ c1400Sowdone Bab. 1623 What be ye, That make here this ruly moone? c1430,c1470–85[see hight v.1 B. 5 β b, d]. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iv. 120 What ben ye, lordes, that are soo countrefayt, are ye paynemes, or of what countrey ben ye? 1526Tindale Rev. vii. 13 What are these which are arayed in longe whyte garmentes? a1596Sir T. More i. i. 47 What art thou that talkest of reuendge? 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. ii. 62 Tra. What is he Biondello? Bion. Master, a Marcantant, or a pedant, I know not what. 1604― Oth. i. i. 94 Bra... What are you? Rod. My name is Rodorigo. 1691in J. Russell Haigs (1881) 325 For it is not now as it was of old, What is he?..but, What has he? 1753Foote Englishm. in Paris i. i, Buck...And what are you, hey? Barb. Je suis Peruquier, Monsieur. 1781Cowper Hope 497 What were they? what some fools are made by art, They were by nature, atheists. 1860Dickens Uncomm. Trav. v, ‘You noticed that young man, sir, in at Darby's?’ ‘Yes. What is he?’ ‘Deserter, sir.’ 1871Tennyson Last Tourn. 755 About his feet A voice clung sobbing till he question'd it, ‘What art thou?’
3. a. In rhetorical questions, implying an emphatic contrary assertion.
what am I but..? is equivalent to ‘I am nothing but..’, what did he (do) but..? to ‘He actually did..’, what can he not do? to ‘He can do anything’.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 346 Hwæt sind þas buton ðrymsetl heora Scyppendes, on ðam ðe he wuniᵹende mannum demð? c1175Lamb. Hom. 17 Hwet halt þe wredðe? 1340Ayenb. 137 Huet am ich bote esssse and spearken? c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 546 What did this Eolus but he Toke out hys blake trumpe of bras. c1440Lydg. Hors, Shepe & G. 420 What but thi wolle was cause of al the striff? c1440Gesta Rom. xl. 159 What dude he but purveyde him of so muche mony? 1535Coverdale 2 Esdras xvi. 5 Plages are sent vnto you, & what is he that wyl dryue them awaye? 1593Shakes. Lucr. 414 What could he see but mightily he noted? What did he note, but strongly he desired? 1599Nashe Lenten Stuffe 48 What did me he, but..chopt aloft. 1611Bible Judges xiv. 18 What is sweeter then honie? and what is stronger then a Lion? 1681Dryden Abs. & Achit. i. 303 What cannot Praise effect in Mighty Minds? 1780Mirror No. 96 ⁋6 Give a young woman admiration, and what more can she wish for? 1798Wordsw. We are Seven 4 A simple Child, That lightly draws its breath,..What should it know of death? 1866Geo. Eliot Ess. (1884) 329 What else is the meaning of our Trades-Unions?
b. In predicative quasi-adj. use: Of what account, consequence, value, or force?
c825Vesp. Ps. cxliii[i]. 3 Quid est homo quia innotuisti ei? hwet is monn ðæt ðu cuðades him? 1388Wyclif 2 Sam. vii. 18 Who am Y, my Lord God, and what is myn hows, that thou brouȝtist me hidur to? 1546J. Heywood Prov. (1867) 77 What is a woorkman, without his tooles? 1734Pope Ess. Man iv. 237 What's Fame? a fancy'd life in others' breath. 1781Cowper Truth 107 Your sentence and mine differ. What's a name? 1841Browning Pippa passes iii. ad fin. (Song), What's death? You'll love me yet! 1851Househ. Words 6 Sept. 553/1 What are my strength and weight compared with that one pillar? 1885‘Mrs. Alexander’ At Bay ix, I am an Englishman of unblemished character. What would your assertion be against mine?
4. a. With ellipsis, esp. of the remainder of the question; hence (colloq.) short for ‘What did you say?’ or ‘What is it?’
13..Seuyn Sag. (W.) 2193 ‘On the falle..swich a maner vileynie, As hadde the burgeis for his pie.’ ‘O, maister, he saide, what? what? I the praie, tel me that.’ c1460Towneley Myst. iv. 183 Isaac. A, good sir, abide; ffader! Abraham, What son? Isaac. to do youre will I am redy. 1534More Comf. agst. Trib. iii. Wks. 1224/1 Why wife quod her housebande what woulde you doe? What? by God goe forwarde with the beste. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 165 What when we fled amain,..and besought The Deep to shelter us? 1834Dickens Sk. Boz, Steam Excurs., ‘Oh! oh!—I'm so frightened!’ ‘What at, dear?—what at?’ said the mother. 1837― Pickw. xix, ‘What's your name?’ ‘Cold punch’, murmured Mr. Pickwick, as he sunk to sleep again. ‘What?’ demanded Captain Boldwig. No reply. 1898M. M. Dowie Crook of Bough i, ‘That's a queer start o' young Sam's’, said one voice. ‘Wot is?’ said another.
b. Substituted for a word or phrase of which explanation is asked.
1676Shadwell Virtuoso i. 11 Sir Sam. Gad I'll do't instantly, in the twinkling of a Bed-staff... Bruce. In the twinkling of what? a1814Manœuvring i. i. in New Brit. Theatre II. 78 Sure enough, my lady's the greatest policizer under the sun. Kit. Polly what? 1825T. Hook Sayings Ser. ii. Passion & Princ. xi. III. 218 ‘Here, Sir, take away the Tiffin’. ‘The what, Sir Frederick?’ said the principal waiter. ‘The Tiffin, Sir’, repeated his Excellency, in a voice of thunder. 1837Dickens Pickw. xlii, ‘Your chummage ticket will be on twenty-seven, in the third.’ ‘Oh’, said Mr. Pickwick. ‘My what, did you say?’ 1880Mrs. Parr Adam & Eve II. 47 ‘Bacause—’ ‘Because what?’.. ‘Because you've—’ but before the sentence could be finished, Eve had flown upstairs.
c. As an interrogative expletive (sometimes with eh) usually at the end of a sentence, esp. in recent trivial or affected colloq. use.
1785F. Burney Diary 19 Dec., He [sc. George III] said, ‘What? what?’—meaning, what say you?.. ‘it is not possible. Do you think it is?—what?’ 1850Househ. Words 16 Nov. 177/2 What is all that about the—eh—what—law of ex—what?—pansion—eh? c1891‘J. S. Winter’ Lumley xv, But then, she's so beastly chic, dontcherknow—eh, what! 1906Mansfield Girl & Gods xvi, Good-bye, Miss Thornton, awfully jolly evening—what? 1914A. M. N. Lyons Simple Simon i. i. 16 Can't say I've read it. It's a bit too literary for me. What? But they say it's jolly clever. You had it at school, I dare say. What?
5. Phrases.
a. In elliptical phr. with adv., conj., or prep., the precise sense of which varies with and may usually be inferred from the context or circumstances: cf. defs. below.
what else? what else should be the case?; used as an emphatic affirmative reply: = certainly! † what for-thy? what of that? (see for-thy conj. b); also parenthetically as advb. phr. = in spite of that, nevertheless. what if († what and, what an(d if arch.)..? what is or would be the case if..? what will or would happen if..? what does it matter if..? etc.; often expressing a hypothesis or proposal: = ‘suppose..’, ‘supposing..’. what of..? what is to be said of..? what do you think of..? what comes of or follows from..? etc. what then? what happens or would happen in that case? what of that? (see then adv. 4); so what next? what though..? (somewhat arch.) what happens or would happen in view of the fact that, or on the supposition that..? (nearly = what if..?, but implying some opposition between the circumstance mentioned and the possible one implied: cf. though 4); † also absol. what though? what if it is (or were) so? what does it matter? what then? See also what-not.
c1200Ormin 8105 Acc whatt forrþi nass þatt nohht don. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 18/591 ‘Ȝwat nou?’ quath þis bolde maister: ‘ȝwy ne habbe ȝe him i-brouȝt?’ c1420Wyclif's Bible, Pref. Ep. St. Jerome ii. 63 What if thilk beest ȝe hadden herd tellinge his owne wordis! c1440Alphabet of Tales 74 Saynt Basll sayd; ‘what & I dye nott or tomorn?’ 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (1555) K j, What thoughe quod he, draw you not abacke. 1513Douglas æneis iv. Prol. 200 Quhat of bewte, quhar honestie lyis deid? 1564[see then adv. 4]. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. iv. iv. 9 What and if His sorrowes haue so ouerwhelm'd his wits? 1590― Mids. N. i. i. 228, I am thought as faire as she. But what of that? Demetrius thinkes not so. 1591Lyly Midas iv. iii, Pet. Wel, tis hard to haue ones browes imbroidered with bugle. Licio. But canst thou blowe it? Hunts. What els? Min. But not away. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. iii. 51 Heere wee haue no Temple but the wood... But what though? Courage. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 174 What if all Her stores were op'n'd, and this Firmament Of Hell should spout her Cataracts of Fire. 1742Pope Dunc. iv. 255 What tho' we let some better sort of fool Thrid ev'ry science, run thro' ev'ry school? 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. xx, My ship sails to-morrow;..what if you go in her as a passenger? 1819Keats Otho i. i, To me! What of me, ha? 1827Heber Hymn, ‘From Greenland's Icy Mountains’ ii, What though the spicy breezes Blow soft o'er Ceylon's isle... In vain with lavish kindness The gifts of God are strown. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre xix, But if..they..dropped off and left me one by one, what then? 1876Browning Fears & Scruples x, What, and if your friend at home play tricks? 1889‘J. S. Winter’ Mrs. Bob ii, ‘Did anybody tell you about the Manor Lodge?’ ‘No, not a word; what about it?’ 1914‘Ian Hay’ Knt. on Wheels xiii. §5 Game and rubber..! Now, what about bed?
b. In various other phr. (See also 8, 10, 11.)
† what is thee? [thee pron. 1 b], what is the matter with thee? † what lack you? or what do you lack? [lack v.1 3], a salesman's cry; hence as an appellation for an itinerant vendor or pedlar. what say you (mod. what do you say) to..? what think you (mod. what do you think) of..? are you inclined for..? how would you like..? what say? (slang, orig. U.S.), what did (or do) you say? shall we? (cf. say v.1 2 m). what's my thought? a guessing game (the same as yes and no: see yes 1 b). what's with..? (colloq., orig. and chiefly U.S.), what's the matter with..?, what has happened to? (see also quot. 1962). See also what-d'ye-call, what's-his-name.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2720 Þo sede on to an oþer, merlin, wat is þe? Þou faderlese ssrewe, wy misdostou me? c1300Havelok 1951 Bernard, hwat is þe? Hwo haues þe þus ille maked?
1589Greene Menaphon Wks. (Grosart) VI. 14 A secular wit that hath liued all daies of his life by what doo you lacke. 1597Breton Wit's Trenchmour Wks. (Grosart) II. 16/2 The sonne of What lacke you, was become the onely right worshipfull. 1614J. Cooke Greene's Tu Quoque B 1, What lacke you sir? faire stuffes or veluets? 1663Killigrew Parson's Wedd. i. i, His Father was a..Pedler, a what do you lack, Sir.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. iii. 17 What say you to a Neats foote? 1649Dk. Newcastle Country Capt. ii. i. 23 Betweene us too, what thinke you of a wench? 1749Fielding Tom Jones x. iv, ‘What think you of some Eggs and Bacon, Madam?’, said the Landlady. 1793Cowper Beau's Reply 27 What think you, Sir, of killing Time With verse address'd to me?
1825J. Neal Bro. Jonathan I. 357 ‘Was he hurt, uncle Harwood?’ ‘What say?’ 1855W. G. Simms Forayers 52 What 'say, boys—won't a back-and-rush of the nags do it? 1934S. Lewis Work of Art 294, I think it would be fun to run up the Hudson to Ye Bunche of Grapes some noon. What say? 1966New Yorker 24 Dec. 25 What say we skip a few ‘fa-la-la's’? 1972‘B. Graeme’ Tomorrow's Yesterday iii. 32 What say we have coffee at home for once?
1847Tennyson Princess Prol. 188 We..like as many girls..play'd Charades..And what's my thought and when and where and how.
1940J. O'Hara Pal Joey 125 Nick what's with the free food? Explain. 1960‘E. McBain’ Killer's Choice ix. 97 ‘What's with this kosher bit?’ he asked. ‘Get me some butter.’ 1962Amer. Speech XXXVII. 203 The elliptical ‘What's with..?’ (Vos iz mit..?) also has occurred, not only in the sense of ‘What's new?’..but also as a substitute for ‘What's the matter with..?’ (a sense common in Yiddish). 1976National Observer (U.S.) 24 Jan. 1/1 But it's not easy, because an interloper keeps asking depressing questions—such as: How do you feel about the state of the country? What's with the economy? 1977H. Fast Immigrants iii. 172 There are ways to find out what's with Jake.
¶ but what? (a Gallicism = mais quoi?): but, after all.
1586T. B. La Primaud. Fr. Acad. i. 59 Ye shall have verie few, but saie, that they are enimies to evill... But what? As they never knew what goodnes ment, so they know as litle of the contrarie. 1605P. Erondelle Fr. Gard. N 7 b, O Marguerite!..thou hast beene heeretofore greatly esteemed in France, but what? all other thinges doe wither,..as well as flowers.
c. what about it?: an enquiry as to the course of action to be adopted.
1927H. A. Vachell Dew of Sea 259 Your head keeper says we must have two guns apiece. Now—what about it? 1935D. L. Sayers Gaudy Night viii. 163 ‘I say,’ said Mr. Farringdon, ‘.. you simply must come.’.. ‘What about it?’ said Harriet, deferring to Mr. Pomfret.
** In dependent clauses. (In early use occas. followed by that (that conj. 6).)
Here the interrogative force varies according to the nature of the principal clause; after verbs or phrases of asking, wondering, or the like, the dependent clause is more or less explicitly an indirect question (e.g. ‘I asked him what he meant’ = ‘I asked him ‘What do you mean?’’); after verbs or phrases of knowing, saying, or the like, it is only implicitly so, but the sense is essentially the same, and is to be distinguished from the compound relative (= ‘that which’: see C. I.* below), which however it sometimes closely approaches, the construction being often identical; cf. ‘I did not know what he meant’ (which implies the mental question ‘What did he mean?’) with ‘I did not hear what he said’ (where what simply = ‘that which’).
The dependent clause may by inversion of construction become a subject-clause: e.g. ‘What he meant was unknown to me’ = ‘I did not know what he meant.’ (Cf. quot. 1766 s.v. how adv. 8 a.)
6. In indirect questions, and clauses of similar meaning (see remarks above): corresponding to the direct use in 1. Of a thing: either (a) in finite clause, or (b) as obj. of a following infinitive (cf. to prep. B. 16).
735Bæda Death song 4 To ymbhycggannae..huaet his gastae..doemid uueorthae. c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. lii. 405 He..him ᵹetæhte hwæt hi on ðæm don sceolden, hwæt ne scolden. 1154O.E. Chron. (Laud MS.) an. 1137 Nu we willen sæᵹen sumdel wat belamp on Stephnes kinges time. a1200Moral Ode 79 He wat wet þenkeð and hwet doð alle quike wihte. c1200Ormin 2904 Josæp..mikell ummbeþohhte, Off whatt himm wære bettst to don. Ibid. 2992, 3 Þatt birrþ uss lokenn whatt itt iss & whatt itt wile seggenn. c1205Lay. 25334 ær heom mihte iwurðen waht heo don wolde. a1250Owl & Night. 1441 Hit nuste neauer hwat hit was. c1290S. Eng. Leg. 11/350 He..Axede heom of þe croyz ȝwat were þe tokningue. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 9249 To loke wat were best to do. 1340Ayenb. 264 Me him acseþ huo he ys, huannes he comþ, huet he heþ ysoȝe. 1390Gower Conf. I. 3 What schal befalle hierafterward God wot. 1450Paston Lett. Suppl. (1901) 31 Qhat the cawse is I wote nott. 1501Douglas Pal. Hon. i. lxii, He demandit my answer, quhat I said? 1533Gau Richt Vay 7 It is neidful first to ane seik man to knaw quhat is his seiknes. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 89 Demaunding of them what the matter was. 1588Shakes. L.L.L. iii. i. 160 O thou knowest not what it is. 1601― Twel. N. iii. iii. 9 Iealousie, what might befall your trauell. 1671Milton Samson 1346, I am sorry what this stoutness will produce. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xv. vii, No to be sure, it signifies nothing what becomes of them. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. i, I believe they are in actual consultation upon what's for supper. 1782F. Burney Cecilia x. ii, Something strange..must have happened, but what, she had no means to know. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. v. I. 540 What such a force..could effect..was proved, a few years later, at Killiecrankie. 1850Househ. Words 15 June 285/1 It will be time enough then to think what next. 1889Stevenson Master of Ballantrae vi. 186 Has it never come in upon your mind what you are doing? 1891Speaker 2 May 532/2 The Socialist no longer thinks of dictating to society what it ought to be.
(b)c1400R. Gloucester's Chron. (Rolls) 9237 (MS. B.) Hii nuste wat to do. 1581Marbeck Bk. Notes 1171 Haue alwaies what to doe in your hands. 1624Capt. J. Smith Virginia i. 16 We tooke more Cod then we knew what to doe with. 1697Dryden æneis iv. 423 Jove will inspire him, when, and what to say. 1713Berkeley Hylas & Phil. i. (1725) 47, I know not what to think of it. 1883D. C. Murray Hearts ii, Cousin Mark was not burdened with more money than he knew what to do with.
7. Of a person, in predicative use (with distinctions of sense as in 2).
c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxi. 158 Ðonne eow misliciað þa medtrymnessa þe ᵹe on oðrum monnum ᵹesioð, ðonne ᵹeðence ᵹe hwæt ᵹe sien & hwelce ᵹe sien. c1290St. Brandan 627 in S. Eng. Leg. 237 Ich eschte him ȝwat he were. He seide, ‘ich am þin Abbot.’ 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 919 Þe king eschte wat hii were. a1300Cursor M. 4931 Þe folk asked quat þai suld be, ‘Theues,’ coth ioseph. c1386Chaucer Can. Yeom. Prol. & T. 63 Is he a clerk or noon? telle what he is. c1489Caxton Blanchardyn xxvi. 99 The kynge, that gretli desired to knowe of his estate, asked of hym what he was, of what lande and of what lynage. 1542Udall Erasm. Apoph. Table X iij, Athlete [= -æ], what they be that are so called. 1596[see 2]. 1604Shakes. Oth. iv. i. 74 And knowing what I am, I know what she shallbe. 1605in Dixon Tower (1870) II. xi. 104 To ansoure to formall interrogatours..as quhat he is, for I can neuer yett heare of any man that knowis him. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 301 To write a Letter to the Governor, to inform him what we were, and on what account we came. 1697Dryden æneis vi. 1194 He..ask'd his airy Guide, What, and of whence was he. 1832Disraeli Cont. Fleming vii, I was to be something great, and glorious, and dazzling; but what, we could not determine. 1854R. S. Surtees Handley Cr. ii, Who or what he was,..no one ever cared to inquire.
8. Phrases.
a. to know what's what [know v. 15]: to understand the qualities or values of things; to have a good judgement or apprehension; to have clear or full knowledge of the matter in hand, or of the state of the case; to know what is fitting or profitable. So with other verbs, as perceive, show, etc. colloq.
c1400Ywaine & Gaw. 432 Ful sarily than thare i sat, For wa i wist noght what was what. 1421–2Hoccleve Dial. 778 in Min. Poems 138 They me oghten haue in greet cheertee, And elles woot I neuere what is what. a1500Chaucer's Dreme 1296 Neither knew I kirke ne saint Ne what was what ne who was who. a1553Udall Royster D. i. ii. (Arb.) 17 Enamoured quod you? haue ye spied out that? Ah sir, mary nowe I see you know what is what. 1600Rowlands Lett. Humours Blood Epigr. xxv. 31 Tut, tell me not whats what; I know the law. 1663Butler Hud. i. i. 149 He knew what's what, and that's as high As Metaphysick Wit can fly. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 215, I dare venture to say..that not a common Farrier in the Universe knows what's what. 1860Thackeray Lovel v, I had so much claret on board, I did not much know what was what. 1911Times 26 Oct. 8/4 My distinguished friend..who appeared as a witness had told me what was what.
b. Phrases used as ns. I know or wot not (mod. I don't know) what, Lord or God knows what (lord n. 6 b, god 10 b), who knows what? † know-not-what (see know-), watna what (see watna), etc.: something unknown or only vaguely apprehended or suggested; cf. L. nescio quid, F. je ne sais quoi. So {ddd}and (I don't know) what all (colloq.) = ‘{ddd}and various other things unknown or unspecified’, ‘{ddd}and all sorts of things besides’. you know what, † (you) wot what: something that need not be specified (see you 11).
a1000Riddles liv. [lv], Hyse..hrand under gyrdels hyre stondendre stiþes nathwæt. c1560A. Scott Poems (S.T.S.) xxx. 39 Thay luve no man effeminat, And haldis thame, bot I wat not quhat, That can nocht be wtout thame. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 765 Sent, no man wist whether, to be done wyth, God wot what. 1570Satir. Poems Reform xv. 115 Ȝe worke maist lyke ȝe wat not quhat With your Politick heidis. 1587in W. M. Williams Ann. Founders' Co. (1867) 70 Which when they did see they putt theyre hands they could not tell to whatt. 1603Holland Plutarch's Mor. 154 When he was about to speake (I wot not what) as touching painting-craft. 1662Rump Songs i. 52 Next come those idle Twittle-twats, Which calls me many God-knows-whats. 1701Wallis in Collect. (O.H.S.) I. 330 Under penalty of..(who knows what?). 1702S. Parker tr. Cicero's De Finibus Transl. Pref., The Grandeur, Eloquence, Neatness, and I know not what all, of an Author's Expression. 1823[see god 10 b]. 1840Thackeray Barber Cox Aug., Shouting out, ‘Aha!’ and ‘Sapprrrristie!’ and I don't know what. 1856Thoreau Let. to Mr. B. 21 May, So we shall save some of our money..and lose—I do not know what. 1859Dickens Haunted House vii. 33/1 There's examins, and catechizes, and I dunno what all for him to be put through. 1901H. Sutcliffe Barbara Cunliffe 9 Some reckon Tib helps him wi' his black magic, an' his turning stones to gold, an' what all. 1942W. Faulkner Go down, Moses 76 My mind gonter change about whatall I seed. 1947E. Meynell Sussex ix. 225 Sheep are most unfortunate creatures in the infections to which they are liable—the foot rot..and the liver-fluke and what all. 1957J. Kerouac On Road (1958) iii. iv. 202 Weariness and..sorrow and what-all was on his mind. 1962A. Lurie Love & Friendship vii. 123 That old Mr Higginson... Got his house full of bird dirt and what-all.
c. to know what it is: to apprehend what it implies or may involve; hence, to have had experience of it. Usually with inf.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 615 Thou know'st not what it is, With iauelings point a churlish swine to goare. 1608Kellison Reply to Sotcliffe's Answ. Ep. Ded. a v, Till miserie had taught the prodigal Sonne wit, he neuer knew what it was to liue at home in his Fathers howse. 1711Addison Spect. No. 26 ⁋7 Though I am always serious, I do not know what it is to be melancholy. 1860Thackeray Round. Papers, On Two Children in Black, As for the first night at a strange school, we most of us remember what that is. 1901W. R. H. Trowbridge Lett. her Mother To Eliz. xiii. 58 To know what dust is, you must come to Switzerland in August; the road was like driving through sand.
d. ellipt. for ‘what it is’, ‘what is the truth of the matter’, ‘what is the thing to do’, or the like, in I('ll) tell you what (and similar phrases now obs. or dial.), used to emphasize or call special attention to what is said (= ‘let me tell you’), or (mod. colloq.) in making a proposal. Also that's what; you know what?
c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 694 Ye be lyke the swynt catte That wolde haue fisshe, but wostow whatte He wold no thinge wete his clowes. 1576Gascoigne Steele Glas (Arb.) 78 Disdaine him not: for shal I tel you what? Such clime to heauen, before the shauen crownes. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 86 This tricke may chance to scath you, I know what, You must contrary me. 1594― Rich. III, iii. ii. 92 Wot you what, my Lord, To day the Lords you talke of, are beheaded. 1596― Merch. V. i. i. 86, I tell thee what Anthonio, I loue thee. 1657in Brand's Pop. Antiq. (Bohn) I. 121 I'le tell thee what, To-morrow thou shalt see Me weare the willow. 1773G. A. Stevens Trip Portsm. i. 10 Sir Flimsey. I'll tell you what, madam—. Miss Flirt. And I'll tell you when, Sir Flimsey. When you take a lady out with you, don't domineer so. 1872Routledge's Ev. Boy's Ann. June 442/1 I'll tell you what, we'll row down. 1899H. Wyndham Soldiers of Queen viii. 176 Tell you what, Bill, you can start your stock with one of my old shirts for the price of a quart. 1902Dialect Notes II. 247 That's what, exclamation of affirmation or assent. 1908L. M. Montgomery Anne of Green Gables xv. 165 She'll..be ready enough to go back of her own accord, that's what. 1960H. Pinter Room 98 You know what though? It looks a bit better. It's not so windy. 1965‘Lauchmonen’ Old Thom's Harvest ii. 29 ‘You don't bring anybody.’.. ‘Oh—oh. That's what. 1982H. Engel Murder on Location xviii. 164 ‘You know what, Chris?’ ‘What?’ ‘You know it stinks to heaven as well as I do.’
*** Various special uses and collocations (in direct questions or in dependent clauses). See also 17.
For what becomes (is become, etc.) of{ddd} see become v. 4.
9. With intensive additions, as what the deuce (devil, dickens, etc.), what in the name of{ddd}, what in the world, what on earth, etc.: see also the ns. (Cf. how adv. 1 b.)
c1385–[see devil n. 20]. 1596–[see plague n. 3 d]. 1600–[see dickens a.]. 1614Jackson Creed ii. 133 What a Gods name, hinders him from doing it? 1709Steele & Addison Tatler No. 110 ⁋4 What-a-Pox hast thou to do with Ladies and Lovers? 1757–[see deuce2 b1.]. 1818Shelley Ess. & Lett. (1852) II. 116 What on earth does he mean by some of his inferences? 1829Scott Anne of G. xii, Thinking what in the universe it could be made of. 1836[see hell n. 9]. 1897S. Crane Third Violet xv. 101 What the mischief have I done? Ibid. xvi. 105, I wonder what in blue thunder you mean.
10. Of quantity, amount, or price: How much, how many. So of the time of day, in what's o'clock, what's the time (see clock n.1 3, 5, time n. 13).
The orig. use was with partitive gen.; later, partitive of occurs.
c1000Ags. ‘Ps.’ (Th.) cxviii[i]. 84 Hwæt synt þinum esne ealra daᵹena? c1420Avow. Arth. xxxiii, Quat is thi rawunsun opon ryȝte? c1425Crafte Nombrynge (E.E.T.S.) 26 Yf þou wold wete qwat is 4 hundryth times 4. 1508Dunbar Gold. Targe 274, I knaw quhat thou of rethorike hes spent. c1525Vox Populi 374 in Hazl. E.P.P. III. 281, I knowe not whates a clocke, But by the countre cocke. 1557Order of Hospitalls C vij b, That there be geven Warrants..what shall be paid to any such Pencioner wekly. 1600Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 319, I pray you, what i'st a clocke? 1669Sturmy Mariner's Mag. i. ii. 34 As 16 to 7: So is 8 to what? 1814J. H. Moore's Pract. Navig. (ed. 19) 130 What is Greenwich Time when it is Noon 75°, or Five Hours, West of Greenwich? 1816Scott Bl. Dwarf ix, But I'll see what o' them can be gotten back. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, Parlour Orator, He can tell what's o'clock by an eight-day, without looking at the minute hand, he can. 1859Habits Gd. Soc. xi. 305 What of that essential harmony..can there possibly be between a hundred..people? 1904Sir H. Hawkins Remin. II. 2 Lloyd must have made {pstlg}20,000 a year..; what I made is of no consequence.
11. a. what for (introducing a clause (a non-standard use); sometimes written as one word; Sc. and north. dial.; earlier north. ME. † for what, replacing OE. for hwan); now, in polite colloq. use, only what{ddd}for (in independent or dependent clause), or what for?: for what purpose, with what object? for what reason, why, wherefore? Also † through what: how? So † what to (what till): to what end, whereto.
c1200Ormin 199 Þurrh whatt maȝȝ icc nu witenn þiss? Ibid. 4814, 5 Forr whatt iss Drihhtin me þuss wraþ? Ibid. 14113 Forr all mannkinn to shæwenn swa Forr whatt he comm onn erþe. c1250Gen. & Ex. 1657 Iacob tolde him for quat he swanc So fer. 1375Barbour Bruce xi. 28 (Camb. MS.) God..wat quhat-to [Edin. MS. quhat-till] all thing efferis. c1760D. Hume in Ramsay's Remin. v. (ed. 18) 116 What for should I burn a' my..bukies? 1799Burns ‘What ails ye now’, ix, ‘Geld you!’ quo' he, ‘and whatfor no?’ 1823Galt R. Gilhaize lx, The children wondered whatfor an honest man should be brought to punishment. 1857Hughes Tom Brown ii. i, The boot he had just pulled off flew straight at the head of the bully..‘Confound you, Brown, what's that for?’ 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. viii, What are you staring at a fellow like that for? 1948E. Waugh Loved One 51 What for you want new ideas? 1984J. Platt et al. New Englishes vii. 127 What for you want to do that?
b. When subordinated what{ddd}for comes to mean ‘the reason why’.
1714R. Fiddes Pract. Disc. ii. 236 But what I cited all these passages for is to show [etc.].
c. As n. phr. in the slang phr. to give (one) what for = to inflict severe pain or chastisement. Also, to show (someone) what for: to make him take notice; to show who is in charge.
1873Routledge's Yng. Gentl. Mag. Feb. 137/1 It'll give you what for if it touches your lips. 1894Du Maurier Trilby i. 31 Taffy..was a match for any maître d'armes in the whole French army, and Svengali got ‘what for’. 1960N. Hilliard Maori Girl 142 If a man came here I took a liking to, I'd show him what-for soon enough. 1966Listener 18 Aug. 229/1 The stereotype of ‘the wily oriental gentleman..the half-civilized levantine.. the type of fellow who must be shown what for’.
12. As indefinite final alternative in a disjunctive question. Chiefly colloq.
1766J. Adams Diary 29 July, Wks. 1856 II. 198 In what is this man conspicuous?—in reasoning, in imagination, in painting, in the pathetic, or what? 1769G. White Selborne, To Pennant 28 Feb., Is it owing to the vast, massy buildings of that place, to the many waters round it, or to what else? 1842E. FitzGerald Let. to Barton 16 Sept., Have you supposed me dead or what? 1884tr. Lotze's Logic 341 We shall further discover whether the true path is a circle, an ellipse, an oval, or what.
II. adj.
13. a. (a) As the ordinary interrogative adjective, sing. or pl., used of a thing or things, a person or persons, in direct questions: often with ellipsis, as what cheer? (cheer n.1 3 b), what news? etc.
The meaning was expressed in OE. by hwæt with a partitive gen.
[Beowulf 237 Hwæt syndon ᵹe searohæbbendra byrnum werede? c897ælfred Gregory's Past. C. xxi. 164 Hwæt is ðinga þe biterre sie on ðæs lareowes mode..ðonne se anda ðe for ryhtwisnesse bið upahafen?] a1225St. Marher. 4 Hwet godd heiestu ant hersumest? a1300Cursor M. 29034 Quat bote is fra mete to min And dedeli for to lig in sin? 1382Wyclif 1 John iii. 12 And for what thing slew he him? c1384Chaucer H. Fame ii. 525 ‘And what sovne is it lyke?’ quod hee. Ibid. iii. 1058 And eueryche cried, what thing is that? And somme sayde, I not neuer what. a1400–50Wars Alex. 683 Quat sterne is it at ȝe stody on? a1425Cursor M. 13154 (Trin.) What maner þing. c1440–[see cheer n.1 3 b]. 1500–20Dunbar Poems xiii. 3 Quhat tydingis gossep, peax or weir? a1586Sidney Arcadia i. ii. (1912) 14 What cause then..made you venter to leave this sweete life? a1596Sir T. More i. iii. 71 Sirra, what newes? 1610Shakes. Temp. ii. i. 88 What impossible matter wil he make easy next? 1749Fielding Tom Jones x. ix, What saucy Fellow..told you any Thing of my Lady? 1815Scott Guy M. xi, ‘What Mr. Bertram?’..‘not Mr. Bertram of Ellangowan, I hope?’ 1853C. Brontë Villette xxxvii, A story! What story? 1880‘Mark Twain’ Tramp Abr. xxii, But what good would it do?
(b) what way (Sc. and north.): how? why?
1570Levins Manip. 197/3 Whatway, quà, quomodò? 1719Ramsay To Arbuckle 6 [He] disna care for A how, a what way, or a wherefore. 1799Mitchell Scotticisms 95 What way did it happen? 1902J. J. Bell Wee Macgregor v, Macgreegor,..whit wey did ye strike puir Wullie Thomson?
b. In rhetorical questions, implying a contrary assertion: cf. 3.
c1420Sir Amadace (Camden) xxviii, Quat wundur were hit, thaȝhe him were wo? 1513Douglas æneis vi. Prol. 105 Quhat cristnit clerk suld hym haue consalit bettir, Althocht he nevir was catholik wight? 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 565 What waxe so frozen but dissolues with tempring? 1697Dryden æneis xi. 770 With what becoming Thanks can I reply! 1790Burns Ball. Dumfries Election xx, What Whig but wails the good Sir James Dear to his country by the names, Friend, Patron, Benefactor! 1821Shelley Hellas 387 What hope of refuge, or retreat, or aid? 1848Kingsley Yeast xiii, What wonder if the children take them at their word and act accordingly?
14. a. In indirect questions, and dependent clauses of similar meaning, with varying interrogative force, sometimes approaching the compound relative use (C. 8): cf. I.** above.
c1200Ormin 722 Godess enngell seȝȝde himm þær, Whatt name he shollde settenn Uppo þatt illke child. a1300Cursor M. 34 Bot be the fruit may scilwis se, O quat vertu is ilka tre. c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 2746 Þey ȝede spiande her & þer In what bataille þe kynges wer. c1450Mirk's Festial 33 Tell þes men whad þou hast yseyne, and whad joy þes men han lost. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xxix. 460 Thenne sire Tristram lete deuyse the bataille in what manere that it shold be. 1548–9(Mar.) Bk. Com. Prayer, Collect 1st Sund. after Epiph., Graunt that they maye both perceyue and knowe what thynges they ought to do. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xlviii. §2 To examine..what dependencie it hath on God. 1667Milton P.L. ii. 741 Till first I know of thee, What thing thou art. c1720De Foe Mem. Cavalier (1840) 25 They called frequent councils of war what course to take. 1835Dickens Sk. Boz, Mr. Watkins Tottle ii, How, or at what hour, Mr. Watkins Tottle returned..is unknown. 1918Cornh. Mag. June 637 He made no attempt..to suggest upon what lines that future might be shaped.
b. I know not what, Heaven knows what, etc. used as adj. phr. = some unknown or undefined{ddd}, some{ddd}or other: cf. 8 b.
a1635in Cath. Rec. Soc. Publ. (1906) III. 43 There was present on horse-backe, I knowe not what poetical preacher, named Pourcase. 1670G. H. Hist. Cardinals ii. iii. 205 There has been already some disgusts.., about I know not what reducement of the Light-horse. 1824Scott St. Ronan's viii, And I know not what other menaces of formidable import.
15. In reference to quality or character: = What kind of (= L. qualis). Also followed by a (dial.).
† what done, what dones: see done ppl. a. 2.
1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 225 He wolde iwite Ȝwat man þe child ssolde be. Ibid. 315 Brut sende vp þere Þre hondred men..to loke ȝwat lond þat were. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 1305 Dido, Allas what weman wele ȝe of me make? a1400Pistill of Susan 314 Tel nou me trewly, vnder what tre? 1445in Anglia XXVIII. 269 Þou..askist what life this man hath had. 1577Googe tr. Heresbach's Husb. 17 b, It is to be learned..in planting, what ground is best for Uines, what for other trees. 1605A. Warren Poor Man's Pass. etc. H 2, I dare not call thee Asse, but aske thy selfe, What eares thou hast. a1715Burnet Own Time (1724) I. ii. 318 It was a common piece of raillery in the Court, upon the death of any Prince, to ask what a person his widow was. 1853Maurice Proph. & Kings vi. 98 He wants a God as the support of his authority; what God he cares very little. 1879F. W. Robinson Coward Consc. i. vi, ‘What wine is this, Fisher?’ ‘Johannisberg, sir.’
16. In reference to quantity or amount: How much, how many.
Cf. the OE. use with partitive gen. (10 above).
1375Barbour Bruce xix. 293 ‘Quhat folk ar thai?’ ‘Schir, mony men.’ 1605Shakes. Macb. iii. iv. 126 Macb... What is the night? La. Almost at oddes with morning, which is which. 1654Kirk Sess. Rec. in Jas. Campbell Balmerino (1899) 408 To stent and sie what bolls of victuall everie heritor was. 1820Dibdin Ivanhoe ii. i, Pray thee what money hast thou brought? 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 728 What water have you? The question to the man sounding, as to the depth of water which the lead-line gives. Mod. colloq. What pudding is there left?
17. In predicative use, corresponding to a predicative adj. in direct statement: usually referring to quality (cf. 15) = of what kind, character, or disposition.
Syntactically indistinguishable from the pron., but essentially adjectival in meaning, and sometimes implying ellipsis of n.: e.g. in quot. a 1450 whad..more = ‘what more wits’.
1340Ayenb. 264 ‘And huet is helle?’.. ‘Helle is wyd wyþ⁓oute metinge, dyep wyþ-oute botme.’ c1400Anturs Arth. viii, What is þi good rede? a1450Myrc 1333 Here ben þe wyttus fyue, How þey ben spende, telle me blyue, And whad þou hast in herte more. 1526Tindale James i. 24 He goeth his waye, and hath immediately forgotten what his fassion was. 1601Shakes. Twel. N. i. v. 269, I see you what you are, you are too proud. 1605― Lear ii. ii. 121 What was th' offence you gaue him? 1697Dryden æneis vii. 178 To search the Land, and where the Cities lye, And what the Men [Virg. quive habeant homines]. Ibid. xi. 516 Noble his Mother was,..But what his Father's Parentage, unknown. 1828Duppa Trav. Italy, etc. 3 What the Transfiguration may have been, as to execution and colouring, I cannot tell. 1905R. Bagot Passport xvi, You know what he is about anything disagreeable—how he simply ignores its existence.
18. In parasynthetic compounds, as what-fashioned, what-natured adjs. (= of what fashion, nature). So what countryman (= a man of what country): see countryman 1.
1559J. Aylmer Harborowe P 1 b, Some of you knowe what natured men they be. 1607R. C[arew] tr. Estienne's World of Wonders 237 [One] may well doubt whether locke⁓smithes..vsed files..or rather what fashioned files they had. 1622Mabbe tr. Aleman's Guzman d'Alf. ii. 302 He began to aske of me what Country-man I was? I told him that I was of Sevill. 1796Southey Lett. fr. Spain (1799) 196 Turning round to Manuel, he asked him what countryman he was. 1807[see countryman 1].
III. adv.
†19. For what cause or reason? for what end or purpose? why? Obs.
what need(s: see need v.2 1 b, 2 b, 5 b.
c888ælfred Boeth. xiv. §2 Hwæt murcnast þu þonn[e] æfter þam þe þu forlure? 971Blickl. Hom. 137 Hwæt secestu minne naman, forþon he is mycel & wundorlic? c1205Lay. 13632 Whæht [c 1275 wi] is þæt þu murnest. c1385Chaucer L.G.W. 2218 Ariadne, What shulde I more telle hire compleynynge? c1400Rom. Rose 5097 Withoute more (what shulde I glose?). c1449Pecock Repr. ii. v. 162 What ben ȝe greuose to this womman? 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 148 But what stand we trifling about this testimonie? 1611Bible Transl. Pref. ⁋4 But what mention wee three or foure vses of the Scripture? 1667Milton P.L. ii. 329 What sit we then projecting Peace and Warr? a1677Barrow Serm. I. 7 What should I mention beauty; that fading toy?
20. a. In what way? in what respect? how? Obs. or arch. (See also ail v. 4, quots. c 1450–c 1817.)
c1200Ormin 14018 Ure Laferrd Jesu Crist Þuss seȝȝde till hiss moderr; Whatt falleþþ þiss till me wiþþ þe, Wifmann, þiss þatt tu mælesst? 1382Wyclif Gen. xx. 9 What han we synned in thee? a1400–50Wars Alex. 2523 Quat knawis þou þat? 1457Harding Chron. in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1912) Oct. 744 What hath Englonde so felly the offende, This noble prynce..To Rauysshe so fro vs? c1460in Pol. Rel. & L. Poems (1866) 250 A, ihesu! quat hast þou gylt? 1535Coverdale Baruch iv. 17 But alas, what can I helpe you? 1816Scott Antiq. xv, It just cam open o' free will in my hand—what could I help it? 1842Tennyson Morte d'Arthur 250 For what are men better than sheep or goats..If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer..?
b. To what extent or degree? how much?
Chiefly with such verbs as avail, care, matter, signify, or with the and comparative, as the better; cf. nothing B. 1, 2 c, none C. 1 b. Also † quhat fele (Sc. obs.) = how many?
1382Wyclif Gen. xxxvii. 26 What shal it profit vs if we sleen oure brother? c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 1664 What were they bothe amendyd that day? c1450Holland Howlat 627 Quhat fele armes on loft,..The said persewant bure. a1535Fisher Spir. Consol. Wks. (1876) 357 And what am I now the better for all this? 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 207 What were thy lips the worse for one poore kis? Ibid. 285 What cares he now, for curbe, or pricking spurre? 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 784 Now what avails his well-deserving Toil! 1757[see signify 7]. 1865Ruskin Sesame i. §32 What do we, as a nation, care about books?
21. As mere sign of interrogation, introducing a question. Obs. exc. dial. (see Eng. Dial. Dict.).
Often taken as interjection (cf. B. 1), and printed with following comma or mark of exclamation.
c1000Lamb. Ps. Cant. vi, Hwæt la [Vulg. Numquid] nis he fæder þin? a1300Cursor M. 5182 Quat ha yee broght him wit yow hider? 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 309 ‘What, is þis Arþures hous,’ quod þe haþel þenne. 1592Marlowe Mass. Paris 938 Come on sirs, what, are you resolutely bent? 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. v. 57 What dares the slaue Come hither..To fleere and scorne at our Solemnitie? 1602― Ham. i. i. 19 Say, what is Horatio there? 1677Ravenscroft Wrangling Lovers ii. i. 13 What's he a Spy too? 1741tr. D'Argens' Chinese Lett. xxxii. 243 What have they been extinguish'd by Sorcerers, as they had been form'd by supernatural Prodigies?
B. Exclamatory and allied uses.
I. int.
†1. Used to introduce or call attention to a statement: Lo; now; well. Obs.
Beowulf 1 Hwæt! we Gar-Dena in ᵹeardaᵹum, þeodcyninga þrym ᵹefrunon. c1000ælfric Hom. II. 130 Hwæt ða ᵹelyfdon for wel meniᵹe, and on Godes naman ᵹefullode wurdon. c1386Chaucer Prol. 856 He seyde syn I shal bigynne the game What welcome be the cut a goddes name.
2. a. As an exclamation of surprise or astonishment (sometimes mixed with indignation): usually followed by a question.
c1200Ormin 19429 Whatt Abraham, whatt Moysæs, Whatt tiss & tatt profete, Ne sæȝhenn þeȝȝ nohht Drihhtin Godd Inn hiss goddcunnde kinde? a1250Owl & Night. 1298 Hwat, heo seyde, vle, artu wod? 13..Cursor M. 10456 (Gött.) Quat? wenis þu i be a fole? 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. xiii. 184 ‘What?’ quod clergye to conscience ‘ar ȝe coueitouse nouthe After ȝeresȝyues?’ 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy i. 2900 What, hath sche nat fro deth and fro distresse Preserued þe, and ȝit þou takest noon hede? 1589R. Harvey Pl. Perc. (1590) 5 What, what, latine in the mouth of a plaine fellow? 1633Ford 'Tis Pity iv. iii, What, crying, old Mistresse! 1639J. Clarke Parœm. 303 What againe? quoth Paul when his wife made him cuckold the second time. 1749Fielding Tom Jones xv. vii, ‘O, Mr. Jones, I have lost my Lady for ever.’—‘How! what! for Heaven's Sake tell me.’ 1810Crabbe Borough xxii. 74 None put the question,—‘Peter, dost thou give The boy his food?—What, man! the lad must live.’ 1847Tennyson Princess ii. 33 What! are the ladies of your land so tall? 1886Baring-Gould Crt. Royal xii, ‘What!—not Sunday clothes?’ ‘Sunday is nothing to us.’ ‘What! no go-to-meeting clothes?’
b. With intensive additions, as in A. 9 (of which use this may be partly an elliptical variant).
c1420? Lydg. Assembly of Gods 425 ‘Ys hit thus!’ quod Attropos, ‘what in the deuyllys date!’ c1520Skelton Magnyf. 795 What the deuyll! can ye agre no better? 1754Richardson in J. Duncombe Lett. (1773) III. 13 What a duce, must a man be always writing! 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. i. iii, If there is a word..that I abominate, it is energy... What the deuce! Am I to rush out into the street [etc.].
3. Used to hail, summon, or call the attention of a person; also formerly for incitement, or as an expression of excitement or exultation. arch. and dial. Earlier in phr. what ho!
c1386, etc. [see what ho int.]. a1553Udall Royster D. i. iii. (Arb.) 22 What Tibet, what Annot, what Margerie. Ye sleepe, but we doe not. 1581A. Hall Iliad ii. 29 What? courage sirs my felowes al. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. i. iii. 3, 4 Nurse..I bad her come, what Lamb: what Ladi-bird, God forbid, Where's this Girle? what Iuliet? 1607Dekker & Webster Northw. Hoe v. i, Chamberlain, call in the music,..What! we'll make a night of it. 1610Shakes. Temp. iv. i. 33 What Ariell; my industrious seruant Ariell. Ar. What would my potent master? here I am. 1633B. Jonson Tale Tub i. iii, Here they are both! What Sirs, disputin. 1878Hardy Ret. Native iii. viii, What, Diggory? You are having a lonely walk.
II.
4. adv. To what an extent! in what a way! = how adv. 7. Obs. exc. dial.
Beowulf 530 Hwæt þu worn fela..beore druncen ymb Brecan spræce! a900Cynewulf Juliana 167 Juliana! hwæt þu glæm hafast. 971Blickl. Hom. 33 Eala hwæt Drihten deofles costunga ᵹeþyldelice abær. c1250in E.E. Lyrics (1907) 1 Ei, ei, what this nicht is long! a1300Cursor M. 23175 Quat he war wijs þat moght Stedfast hald þis dai in thoght! 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 2203 What hit wharred, & whette, as water at a mulne. 1340Ayenb. 51 A god huet we hedde guod wyn yesteneuen and guode metes. 1375Barbour Bruce i. 215 A! quhat thai dempt thaim felonly! c1440York Myst. xiv. 71 A! lorde, what the wedir is colde! 1556Chron. Grey Friars (Camden) 60 What rebellyous they were. Mod. Sc. What bonny!
III. 5. a. adj. Used (as sing. or pl.) to express the surprising or striking nature of the thing(s) or person(s) denoted by the n.; in sing. usually, now always, followed by the indef. art., exc. with a n. in collective or abstract sense. Often with ellipsis (cf. A. 4, 13).
Formerly usually, and still in archaic style, with inverted construction as in a direct question; being distinguished from this by intonation, and in the (non-collective) sing. by the presence of the indef. art.; cf. ‘What a place is this!’ (mod. ‘What a place this is!’) with ‘What place is this?’
c1315Shoreham ii. 119 O swete leuedy, wat þe was wo, Þo ihesus deyde on rode! a1450Le Morte Arth. 530 O, worthy god, what wele is me! 1450–1530Myrr. our Ladye ii. 119 O wyth what reuerence,..wyth what inwarde deuocyon..oughte we to haue vs in euery place. c1485Digby Myst. iv. 1157 What a fawte it was, The seruaunte, alas, His master to forsake! 1509Barclay Shyp of Folys (1874) II. 105 O what a Cyte, and what a se royall Hath had first name of pore men and rurall. 1590Shakes. Com. Err. iii. i. 48 What a coile is there Dromio? who are those at the gate? 1596― Merch. V. i. iii. 161 O father Abram, what these Christians are. 1601― Jul. C. i. iii. 42 Cassius, what Night is this? 1602― Ham. ii. ii. 315 What a piece of worke is a man! 1611― Cymb. iv. i. 16 What Mortalitie is? 1615W. Lawson Country Housew. Garden (1626) 32 What rottennesse? what hollownesse? 1633A. Stafford Fem. Glory 133 O what proficients in Faith did these rusticall Swaines prove in a moment! 1705Addison Italy 307 What a strain'd unnatural Similitude must this seem to a Modern Reader? 1776Earl Carlisle in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) III. 160 What a house! What people! what manners! 1798G. Hay in Ushaw Mag. (1913) Dec. 288 What shocking times we live in! 1825Scott Talism. i, What was the surprise of the Saracen, when, dismounting to examine the condition of his prostrate enemy, he found [etc.]. 1847C. Brontë J. Eyre ii, What a consternation of soul was mine that dreary afternoon!.. Yet in what darkness, what dense ignorance, was the mental battle fought! 1855Browning A Lovers' Quarrel i, Oh, what a dawn of day! How the March sun feels like May! 1888Rider Haggard Col. Quaritch xli, What rubbish you talk.
b. In dependent clauses, after verbs of thinking or perceiving.
Here the exclamatory force varies as the interrogative force does in the corresponding interrogative use (A. 14), with which this often nearly coincides: cf. remarks under A. I.**
a1300Cursor M. 1610 Quat was his reut [= ruth] þan all mai see. 1554in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1913) July 528 When I consydere ever what servants of God they were and so dyed. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, i. iv. 21 Me thought what paine it was to drowne. 1610― Temp. i. ii. 251 Do'st thou forget From what a torment I did free thee? 1708Caldwell Papers (Maitland Club) I. 216 You cannot imagine what a parcel of cheating brutes the work people here are. 1713Addison Guardian No. 119 ⁋1 We may see after what a different manner Strada proceeds. 1808Scott Marm. ii. vi, See what a woful look was given. 1840Dickens Old C. Shop lxix, You may judge with what devotion he..clung to this girl. 1916Sanday In View of End 93 Let..the ordinary church-goer call to mind what a large proportion of the best of our hymn-tunes are German.
IV.
†6. pron. Used in exclamation to denote something surprising or striking; sometimes with inverted construction, as in 5. Obs.
1382Wyclif Num. xxiii. 23 In his tymes it shal be seide to Jacob and to Yrael, What the Lord hath wrouȝt! [Vulg. quid operatus sit Deus; 1611 What hath God wrought!] 1390Gower Conf. I. 54 Lo now, my Sone, what it is A man to caste his yhe amis. c1460Wisdom 1121 in Macro Plays 72 Haue mynde, Soule, wat Gode hath do!
C. Relative and allied uses. (In early use often followed by that (that conj. 6), rarely as.)
I. pron.
* as compound relative (combining antecedent and relative).
1. a. (a) That which, the thing which. (Sometimes with pleonastic correlative that.) Also occas. (b) more generally, A thing which, something that.
Not used of persons, exc. in the idiomatic phr. but what: see 5 below.
The line of division between the dependent interrog. use (see A. I **) and the pure relative use is in certain conditions, esp. in the early periods, difficult or impossible to draw.
c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 191 Quod pungit ueneno afficit... Hie..attreð hwat heo prikeð. c1205Lay. 31618 Ȝe habbeoð alle iherd whæt Penda king hafueð iseid. c1350Will. Palerne 2578 Mekli þan to meliors he munged what he þouȝt. c1410Master of Game (MS. Digby 182) Prol. 12 This booke tretith of what shalbe in euery sesoun moste durable. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. vi. 172 That thou wolt folewe Holi Writt, and take for the lawe and seruice of God what that Holi Writ allowith. 1521Perth Hammermen Book (1889) 16 Item giffin to Andro Scot of quhat wes awand him,..iiij s. 1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 88 So offers he to giue what she did craue. 1596Danett tr. Comines (1614) 219 Notwithstanding what I haue heard, that I will report. 1599George a Greene G j b, What as Bradford holdes of me in chiefe, I giue it frankely vnto thee for euer. 1649Milton Eikon. iv. 36 He..justifi'd and abetted them in what they did. 1724Ramsay Vision xii, I ken sum mair than ye..Of quhat sall afterwart befall. 1731–8Swift Pol. Conversat. Introd. p. lxxxi, So incurable is the Love of Detraction, perhaps beyond what the charitable Reader will easily believe. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cxxiv, And what I am beheld again What is. 1851Househ. Words 6 Sept. 560/1, I was going to ask you to dine with me on what I have left. 1865Ruskin Sesame i. §20 Milton means what he says. 1884W. S. Gilbert Princ. Ida ii, What we have Of hair, is all our own. 1886Law Rep. 32 Chanc. Div. 71 It appears to me that they acted very resonably in what they did. 1889Mrs. E. Kennard Landing a Prize i. (1891) 2 His duties were performed with the precision of an automaton. What he did one day, that he did the next.
(b)1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 56 Dr. Radcliffe..finding him feverish, prescribed what restored him to health in five days. 1784Cowper Task i. 55 If cushion might be call'd, what harder seem'd Than the firm oak of which the frame was form'd.
b. In reference to a prec. n., esp. after but, except, only, than, like, etc., with quasi-adj. force: The one which; chiefly as pl. those which; † also (rare) of persons, those who.
1597Shakes. 2 Hen. IV, iv. iv. 4, Wee will..draw no Swords, but what are sanctify'd. 1611Bible 2 Cor. i. 13 We write none other things vnto you, then what you reade or acknowledge. 1664Pepys Diary 2 Jan., To the King's house, and saw The Usurper, which is no good play, though better than what I saw yesterday. 1676Dryden Aurengz. ii. i, An easier yoke than what you put on me. 1677Essex Papers (Camden) II. 118 Ye Parties which lost it now was greater than wt carried it when ye perpetuating clause was lately ordered. 1681M. Fox in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1912) July 139 Hauing noe body to bee with at home but what is noe Friends. 1758S. Hayward Serm. xvi. 475 He was under no obligations to take human nature, only what arose from his free..promise. 1762Kames Elem. Crit. (1774) I. i. 24 We feel a gradual dilatation..of mind, like what is felt in an ascending series. 1824L. Murray Engl. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 233 All fevers, except what are called nervous. 1868M. Arnold Sch. & Univ. Cont. 21 The Revolution made a clean sweep of all old endowments; what exist date from a time since the Revolution.
2. With special implications.
a. Expressing quantity or amount (cf. A. 10): So much (or many) as, as much as.
1646in M. Sellers Eastland Co. (Camden) Introd. 66 They desire, that what as hath allready bene equallie disburst,..be brought to accompt, and what as remayned in Cash be returned up. 1664Pepys Diary 18 Mar., Their service was six biscuits a-piece, and what they pleased of burnt claret. 1718Free-thinker No. 62. 44 The Romans learnt, what they knew of this Mysterious Doctrine, from the Etrurians. 1789Massachusetts Spy 9 Apr. 3/2 What of the votes in Newhampshire for President, we have seen, are nearly equally divided.
b. Expressing quality or character (cf. A. 2, 15, 17): Such as; the kind of thing (or person) that.
a1658Cleveland Rustick Ramp. 114 He delighted to be..acknowledged for what he was. 1697Dryden æneis x. 901 And what æneas was, such seem'd the Shade. 1756–7tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 468 The court is still very splendid, though much altered from what it was in the year 1716. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. ii. I. 185 The country was not what it had been twenty-two years before. 1861Thackeray Round. Papers, On being Found Out, Would you have your wife and children know you exactly for what you are? 1891Speaker 2 May 533/1 The book is very much what might have been expected from the author.
c. Expressing parallel relation or correspondence (with to in principal clause and in relative clause).
1673–4Grew Anat. Pl. iii. (1682) 127 And what the Mouth is, to an Animal; that the Root is to a Plant. 1732Berkeley Alciphr. iv. §21 Intellect is to the mind what sight is to the body. 1853Ruskin Stones Ven. III. iv. §11 What the elm and oak are to England, the olive is to Italy. 1914Month Dec. 608 Jingoism is to true patriotism what bigotry is to true religion.
3. a. In a parenthetic phrase (chiefly with call) qualifying a following word or phrase; equivalent to an adjective phrase, or to a following phrase with as: e.g. what is called{ddd} = ‘the so-called{ddd}’, or ‘{ddd}, as it is called’.
1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 15 A fortification, mounted with small guns, and what were stiled his great ones, which were four little brass cannon. 1794in Jrnl. Friends' Hist. Soc. (1918) 8 Other demonstrations of what they call Loyalty. 1801Coleridge Lett. (1895) 346 Calvert is..what is well called a handy man. 1828Life Planter Jamaica 211 A very small pea,..a kind of what is called squashies. 1856Mrs. Browning Aur. Leigh i. 9, I, writing thus, am still what men call young. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert v. 40 She is what she calls ‘taking your measure’.
b. Introducing a prefatory (usually parenthetic) qualifying clause, equivalent to a following clause with which (or to an adv., e.g. what is more = furthermore, still more).
1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 5 Where we saw (what we always feared) a Ship [etc.]. 1713Pope in Earl Orrery Rem. Swift (1752) 36 If it be true, what I have heard often affirmed by innocent people, That [etc.]. 1743Bulkeley & Cummins Voy. S. Seas 40 And, what was reckon'd very odd, the Cabbin-Bell came ashore. 1818Scott Rob Roy v, She wore, what was then somewhat unusual, a coat, vest, and hat, resembling those of a man. 1839Thackeray Fatal Boots Feb., I got from him..a..silver-laced waistcoat,..and, what's more, I had no less than three golden guineas in the pocket of it. 1966I. Murdoch Time of Angels iii. 32 Pattie resented too, what before she had scarcely noticed, Carel's assumption that Muriel and Elizabeth were socially her superiors. 1970C. W. K. Mundle Critique Linguistic Philos. 16 Their claim is sometimes that so and so is..incorrect English, sometimes (what is very different) that it is absurd or meaningless. 1976Times 7 June 14/6 To this he added, what could hardly be encouraging to other aspirants to riches, ‘In building a large fortune it pays to be born at the right time.’
4. a. (a) In generalized or indefinite sense: Anything that: = whatever 2 a. Now only in such phrases as what you please, come what may, or esp. (b) for what I know, care, can tell. † Formerly also in a qualifying dependent clause: = whatever 3 a.
c1315Shoreham iv. 159 Ac tyde þe what by-tyde. 1340Ayenb. 43 Oþer be uenym, oþer ine oþre manere, huet þet hit by. 1340–70Alex. & Dind. 68 What it be þat ȝe bidde, ȝour bonus i graunte. a1425Cursor M. 13148 (Trin.) He bad hir aske what [Cott. quatsum, Fairf. quateuer] she wolde. 1469Bury Wills (Camden) 50 To make therof qwat that he can. 1535Coverdale Gen. i. 24 Catell, wormes and what as hath life vpon earth. 1601Shakes. (title of play) Twelfe Night, Or what you will. 1655Vaughan Silex Scint., Mt. Olives i, Such ill-plac'd wit, Conceit, or call it what you please, Is the braines fit, And meere disease. 1670in Marvell's Corr. Wks. (Grosart) II. 299 Its therefore my request to you to..be assisting to him with your Certificates, or in what else you can serve him. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. xii. 208 With your Flat Chissel or Gouge, (or what is nearest at hand) knock softly. 1749Hartley Observ. Man i. i. §1. 20 Be the Cause what it will. 1859H. Kingsley G. Hamlyn ix, One thing she was determined on, not to give up her lover, come what would. 1908S. E. White Riverman xix, To sacrifice his pride, his ambition, his what-you-will.
(b)1697J. Lewis Mem. Dk. Glocester (1789) 55 You may have half a dozen [legs] for what I know, as it is difficult to discover any under the petticoats you wear! 1798C. Smith Yng. Philos. I. 22 She may die for what you know. 1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxii, It may have been murdered, for what I can tell. 1875Ruskin Fors Clav. lx. 332 You may think, for what I care, what you please in such matters.
†b. Of a person or persons: Whoever. Obs.
c1340Hampole Prose Treat. 43 Ilke man, what þat he be, þat in-calles þe name of Godd, þat es to say askes saluacione by Ihesu and by his passione. c1430Freemasonry (1840) 445 And whad he be, let hym be sowȝht. 1448–9J. Metham Amoryus & Cl. 916 He redy schuld be For hys lady sake to iuste, ayens yche knyght in general,..and qwat he were myght yeue hym a falle. 1591Shakes. 1 Hen. VI, v. iii. 45 Be what thou wilt, thou art my prisoner. 1613― Hen. VIII, v. iii. 47 That..my Accusers, Be what they will, may stand forth face to face.
c. with the indefinite sense indicated by ever, so, etc. following (now only immediately following: see whatever, whatso, etc.): cf. 9 b below.
c1200Ormin 2504, & all wass mænelike þing Whatt littless se þeȝȝ haffdenn. 1390Gower Conf. I. 20 What as eny man accuse. Ibid. 103 What as evere that ye seie. 1464Stonor Papers (Camden) I. 68 What that euer he wer to by straw, he must pay in honde. 1481Caxton Chesse iii. iv. (ed. 2) g v, To alle trewe marchauntis and other what that som⁓euer [ed. 1474 other what som euyr] they be.
d. what else: orig. ellipt. = whatever else there may be; hence, with loss of the relative force, anything else, anything and everything.
1579Expos. Termes Law s.v. Reservation, Theyr reseruations were as wel..in vittailis, whether flesh, fishe, corne, bread, drinke, or what els, as in money. 1585–6Earl of Leicester Corr. (Camden) 85 Impostes, customes, and what ells that yeld them money. 1593Shakes. 3 Hen. VI, iii. i. 51 Warwicke..in conclusion winnes the King from her, With promise of his Sister, and what else, To strengthen and support King Edwards place. 1659in Engl. Hist. Rev. (1919) July 287 That..you will afford the best of your assistance..and what elce needfull. 1873Ruskin Crown Wild Olive App. xi. 201 The right to keep everything and every place about you in as good order as you can—Prussia, Poland, or what else.
e. what have you: anything else (similar) that there may be, or that one can think of. orig. U.S.
1925New Yorker 10 Oct. 28/2 New Yorker, Newarker, or what have you? 1930H. Craddock Savoy Cocktail Bk. i. 113 Fill the said tumbler with Water, Ginger Ale, or What Have You, until almost to the top. 1944Auden For Time Being (1945) 115 Disguising himself as a swan or a bull or a shower of rain or what-have-you. 1956A. Wilson Anglo-Saxon Attitudes 163 Too busy or going on leave or what-have-you. 1968K. Weatherly Roo Shooter 110, I must have been away about two hours, buying the stores and what-have-you. 1973C. Bonington Next Horizon iv. 66, I was eager to snatch at every opportunity to get myself established as a writer, film⁓maker, what-have-you, in an effort to find a clearly defined career.
5. a. but what (after a negative expressed or implied): except what (or who); which (or who)..not (= but C. 12 b): see also but C. 30.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. v. ii. 14 Padua affords nothing but what is kinde. 1662Evelyn Sculptura Table, Never any of the Antients excelled in these Arts, but what were Gentlemen. 1688South Serm., Matt. xxii. 12 (1697) II. 333 Few are Confident, but what are first Careless. 1747Gentl. Mag. 247/2 Of the sails that were left, I believe there is not a cloth but what has a shot through it. 1780Bentham Introd. Mor. & Legisl. xiv. (1789) p. clxxxv. note, There are few madmen but what are observed to be afraid of the strait waistcoat. 1796C. Smith Marchmont IV. 133 Not one of these insinuations but what gathered something from malevolence.
b. loosely as conjunctional phr.: But that, that..not (= but C. 12): see also but C. 30. colloq.
¶ In quot. 1807 exceptionally without preceding negative: = but C. 11 a.
1662[see but C. 30]. 1753A. Murphy Gray's Inn Jrnl. No. 43 There hardly arose an Incident, but what our Fellow-Traveller would repeat twenty or thirty Verses in a Breath. 1807W. Irving Salmag. No. 9 (1824) 144 In vain did the wind whistle and the storm beat—my aunt would waddle through mud and mire, over the whole town, but what she would visit them. c1883E. Fitzgerald Let. in A. C. Benson E. Fitzgerald (1905) i. 19 Never having read his father's [poems]..till drawn to them by me... Not but what he loved and admired his father in every shape but that. 1894Du Maurier Trilby vi. (1895) 284 Not but what many changes had been wrought. 1908R. Bagot A. Cuthbert xxi. 257 You should have kept quiet in the house to-day. Not but what you are certainly looking better than you did early this morning.
6. Used redundantly after than or as introducing a clause. dial. or vulgar.
1818Scott Hrt. Midl. xxx, I think I laughed heartier then than what I do now. 1960M. Spark Ballad Peckham Rye iii. 29 ‘He's the same as what we are,’ Dixie said. 1966P. Willmott Adolescent Boys ii. 26 They're all about the same age as what we are.
**
7. As simple relative (sing. or pl.): Which (or who); that.
a. referring to a pron. (demonstr. or indef.), occas. to a noun; orig. introducing a dependent question in apposition with it (A. 6); esp., in later use only, in all what (now dial. or vulgar).
Apparent instances in OE. are due to imitation of Latin:
[c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke vi. 3 Ne rædde ᵹe þæt hwæt dauid dyde? (Vulg. nec hoc legistis quod fecit D.?). 11..ælfred's Boethius xl. §7 (Bodl. MS.) Eall hwæt [Cott. MS. þ̶] he willniaþ hi biᵹitaþ. ]c1200Ormin 1115 Nu icc wile shæwenn ȝuw all þatt whatt itt bitacneþþ. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 4862 Þe king..wende toward bangor þo To destruye þe brutons, wat he founde mo. c1440Alphabet of Tales 86 He told þaim all what at he saw. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. ix. 191 Aftir al this what is tretid upon the firste..gouernauncis. 1532Tindale Expos. Matt. v–vii (c 1550) 20 b, Here seist thou y⊇ vttermoost what a christen man must looke for. 1557North Gueuara's Diall Pr. 244 They do al thinges what they lyst, and nothing what they ought. 1597G. Harvey Trimming of Nashe Wks. (Grosart) III. 53 The beast Ephemeron, which because shee hath but one day to liue, hath manie legs, foure wings, and all what Nature can affoord, to giue her expedition to see about the world. 1645Fuller Good Th. in Bad T. (1841) 36 For matter of language there is nothing what grace doth do, but wit can act. 1657S. Titus Killing no Murder 9 They..thought it not adultery what was committed with her. 1718Hickes & Nelson J. Kettlewell iii. §78 He continued Unmoveable in all what he Believed to be his Duty. 1740Richardson Pamela xxiii. I. 57 Do you think that so dutiful a Son as our Neighbour..does not pride himself, for all what he said at Table, in such a pretty Maiden? 1919J. B. Morton Barber of Putney xv, If I sat down to write a book, I'd want to shove in all what I saw.
†b. in dependence on a prep.; spec. in phr. for what (replacing OE. for hwon) = for which purpose or reason, wherefore. Obs.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 81 Þis monne me mei sermonen mid godes worde, for hwat he scal his sunne uor-saken and bileuen. c1200Ormin 2831 Ure preost..nohht ne mihhte trowwenn Þatt word tatt himm þurrh Gabriæl Wass seȝȝd o Godess hallfe, Forr whatt himm wass hiss spæche..Þurrh Drihhtin all biræfedd. c1200Vices & Virtues 39 Gif ðu na þing ne luuest..ðurh hwat ðu miht forliesen godes luue. a1225Ancr. R. 66 Kumeð þe coue..& fret al þet of hwat heo schulde uorð bringen hir cwike briddes. Ibid. 382 He..bid me ofte techen him sum þing mid hwat he muhte his licome deruen. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 2533 Hengist..him grantede..is doȝter abbe to wif, Vor ȝwat þe king ȝeue him þe contreie of kent. a1300R. Gloucester's Chron. 3451 (MS. B.) Hii vnder ȝete a welle..Of wat [MS. A. wan] þe king ofte dronk. a1300Seven Sins 11 in E.E.P. (1862) 19 Þi fair schrute mid whate þou art ischrid aboute.
c. gen. (Now dial. or vulgar.)
a1568R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 121 In folowyng so preciselie, either the matter what other men wrote, or els the maner how other men wrote. 1621H. Elsing Debates Ho. Lords (Camden) 34 To add that to the weight what the washers had taken away. 1668Wilkins Real Char. 122 That incisure or resemblance of cutting what is common to most of them [sc. insects]. c1842in T. W. Reid Life Forster (1888) I. v. 144 Be like Long Forster, what walked to Colne and back before breakfast. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. iii. ii, Them's her lights, Miss Abbey, wot you see a-blinking yonder.
II. adj. (sing. or pl., of things or persons; always as compound relative exc. in 10 b.)
8. That (or those)..which (or who); such..as; often expressing quantity, So much (or many)..as: cf. C. 1, 2 a.
c1350Will. Palerne 1114 Fondes to do þe duk what duresse ȝe may. a1400Minor Poems fr. Vernon MS. 608 Tak what þing þe profred is Whon þou maiȝt redi haue. 1579Fulke Heskins' Parl. 150 By what things I was conioyned vnto you, those things..I haue giuen vnto you. 1605Shakes. Lear iii. vi. 2, I will peece out the comfort with what addition I can. 1677in 12th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. v. 36 Lord Purbecke makes what hast he can to consume his ladie's fortune by gameing. 1710Steele Tatler No. 169 ⁋1 Do we..destroy the use of what organs we have? 1795Southey Joan of Arc vi. 388 What few to guard the town Unwilling had remained, haste forth to meet The triumph. 1874Ruskin Fors Clav. xlii. 129, I will take what indulgence the..reader will give me.
9. a. In generalized sense: Any..which (or who), any..that: = whatever 2 b. Now only in certain collocations: cf. C. 4. Also = whatever 3 b.
c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 311 What man seiþ heyl to siche antecristis shal haue part of heere werkis for assent þat he ȝiueþ. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iii. 34 What man þat me louyeþ and my wille folweþ, Shal haue grace. 1422E.E. Wills (1882) 50, I bequeth to what thenge þat is most necessary in þ⊇ same Chirch, v. marc. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xxxviii. 475 What Knyghte maye ouercome that Knyght..shal haue me and alle my landes. 1567J. Maplet Gr. Forest 101 Into what cleare Fountaine or Riuer he swimmeth, he infecteth it. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. ii. vi. 3 Come what sorrow can. 1665Hooke Microgr. 149 Provide a good large Box..and of what depth you shall judge convenient. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock i. 70 Spirits..Assume what sexes and what shapes they please. 1852Thoreau Summer 23 June, The red color of cattle also is agreeable in a landscape, or let them be what color they may. 1891Morris Poems by Way 126 Unmoved I stand what wind may blow.
b. with the generalized sense indicated by ever, so, soever, or somever following (now only, exc. with soever, immediately following: see whatever, whatso, whatsoever, whatsomever).
c1200Ormin 10111 Whatt mann se itt iss Þatt hafeþþ tweȝȝenn kirrtless, Ȝife he þatt an þatt illke mann Þatt iss wiþþutenn kirrtell. 13..Cursor M. 1149 (Gött.) To quat contre so þu wend, Sal þu na man find to freind. c1440Gesta Rom. i. 1 (Harl. MS.) That knyȝt shall dye by my crafte, yn what cuntre of the wordle so euer þat he be ynne. c1450Merlin i. 5 In what nede that euer ye haue. 1470–85Malory Arthur x. xli. 481 What knyght someuer he were that smote doune sir Palomydes shold haue his damoysel to hym self. 1472in P. H. Hore Hist. Wexford (1900) I. 230 A strange marchaunt..what that ever condicion he be of. 1558Q. Kennedy in Wodrow Soc. Misc. (1844) 98 Quhat sect or opinioun that evir thou be of. 1588Shakes. Tit. A. v. i. 82 By that same God, what God so ere it be. 1676Shadwell Virtuoso iv. 66 Let what harmony soever be between Lovers at first, in a short time it turns to scurvy jangling. 1716Pope Iliad viii. 567 What Pow'r soe'er provokes our lifted Hand. 1822K. H. Digby Broadstone Hon. Pref. p. v, The Gentlemen of England, of what rank or estate soever they may be. 1868Morris Earthly Par. (1870) I. ii. 460 All people ceased What talk they held soever.
c. Usually with soever, in indef. (non-relative) sense (cf. 4 d): Any..at all, any whatever: = whatever 4 a, whatsoever 3 a.
In first quot. 1856 = some..or other.
1597J. Payne Royal Exch. 18 Let all right belevers..be of good comforth vnder what cross or distress soever. 1608Chapman Byron's Conspir. v. i. Plays 1873 II. 243 Rise then for euer Quit of what guilt soeuer. 1611Shakes. Wint. T. i. ii. 44, I loue thee not a Iarre o' th' Clock, behind What Lady she her Lord. 1664Power Exp. Philos. ii. 91 At which Angle of Inclination the perpendicular will be equal to 29 inches, let the Tube be of what length soever. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 197 Not to come any nearer, upon what occasion soever. 1736Gentl. Mag. Dec. 721/2 Goods, Chattels, and Things of what Nature or Value soever. 1825Scott Talism. xx, She wore not upon her person any female ornament of what kind soever. 1856Emerson Eng. Traits, First Visit Eng., Mr. Landor..has a wonderful brain,..by what chance converted to letters. Ibid., Whatever is didactic—what theories of society, and so on,—might perish quickly. 1881Swinburne Mary Stuart i. ii. (1899) 52 We took in hand to cut this peril off By what close mean soe'er and what foul hands Unwashed of treason.
10. a. what time (later also † at what time), as conj. phr.: At the time, or at any time, at which; when; whenever. So what day, what while. Now only poet.
1357Lay Folks' Catech. (T.) 65 Teche tham thair childir..What tyme so thai er of eld to lere tham. c1380Antecrist in Todd Three Treat. Wyclif (1851) 124 Seynt Jon..seide what tyme he lyved þat þenne weren many antecristis. c1440Generydes 4225 What tyme that eny kyng weddid shuld be,..The kyng and she shuld neuer togeder mete. 1535Coverdale Zech. viii. 14 Like as I deuysed to punysh you, what tyme as youre fathers prouoked me vnto wrath. 1637Milton Lycidas 28 What time the Gray-fly winds her sultry horn. 1648Evelyn Let. to R. Browne 18 Dec., Abstaining from using uncivil terms at what time they differed in judgment. 1791Cowper Iliad xx. 190 What time the monster of the Deep pursued The Hero. 1861D. G. Rossetti tr. Dante's Vita Nuova in Early Italian Poets ii. 299 It is your fickleness..makes me tremble thus What while a lady greets me with her eyes. c1882G. M. Hopkins Poems (1967) 93 Walked with the wind what while we slept. 1885–94R. Bridges Eros & Psyche Sept. ii, Was the trial waged What day the Sirens with the Muses strove. 1936W. B. Pemberton Carteret ix. 253 He and his brother were quietly mobilising their forces what time a rollicking..Carteret dictated optimistic despatches. 1945R. Hargreaves Enemy at Gate 24 One side getting ready for the next time what⁓time the other as carefully and methodically prepared themselves to fight the last.
†b. (with what as simple rel.): At which time; when; and then. Obs.
1568Grafton Chron. II. 65 The kinges Ambassadors repulsed of the French king returned, at what tyme he sent another Ambassade vpon the lyke cause. 1630R. Johnson's Kingd. & Commw. 128, I read..that it was builded..in the time of Edward the third of England; at what time our Kings..had as yet nothing to doe in this Citie. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. iii. ix. §3 He gave up the Ghost about the third hour of the night, at what time a black Cat..ran to his bed.
III. conj.
†11.
a. During the time that; while. Obs. rare.
c1175Lamb. Hom. 11 Muchel is us þenne neod.., wet we on þisse middelerd liuien, sod scrift.
†b. Up to the time that; till, until. (See also allwhat.) Obs.
a1175Cott. Hom. 235 Si laȝe..adiliȝede..wat hit com to þa time þe god sende þe halie witiȝe. c1250Kent. Serm. in O.E. Misc. 30 Þu hest i-hialde þet beste wyn wat nu. c1315Shoreham v. 245 Fram crystes resurreccioun, Wat comeþ hys ascensioun. 13..Guy Warw. (A.) 4902 In þat cite þai bi-leued þere What Tirry was hole & fere. c1330Arth. & Merl. 5022 No fined þai neuer swiche a sleiȝt, What þai to Gaheriet com riȝt. 1340Ayenb. 87 Wyþoute comynge ayen of huyche þinges, non ne is ury in þise wordle, huet hi is y-do.
12. To the extent that; as much as, so far as. (Cf. C. 2 a, 8.) Obs. exc. dial.
c1374Chaucer Troylus iv. 35 Ector..Caste on a day wiþ Grekes for to fighte As he was woned to greue hem what he myghte. c1400Destr. Troy 1794 He..welcomyt hym worthely as a wegh noble, And fraynit hym with frendship qwat the fre wold. 1561T. Hoby tr. Castiglione's Courtyer iii. (1577) Q viij b, As though shee woulde..allure what she can the eyes and affection of whoso beholdeth hyr. 1647Ward Simple Cobler (1843) 52, I speak these things to excuse, what I may, my Countrymen in the hearts of all. 1690Penn Rise & Progr. Quakers (1834) 6 They changed what they could, the kingdom of Christ..into a worldly kingdom.
†13. (? after F. que..ou.) Whether (with correl. or).
c1550Rolland Crt. Venus i. 797 Befoir my Maiestie..Or my deputis quhat thay be greit or small.
D. Indefinite (non-relative) uses.
I. pron. (n.).
†1. Something; anything: only OE. exc. as surviving in phrases in which what is qualified by a quantitative or identifying word, (sometimes a genitive), e.g. anywhat, elsewhat (OE. elles hwæt), little-what (OE. lýtles hwæt, ME. litles what, what litles, little B. 3 c), manywhat, mostwhat, muchwhat (also mickle what, mickle A. 3), nowhat, otherwhat, somewhat, q.v., whence was evolved a subst. use of what = thing. all what: all sorts of things. Obs.
c1200Ormin 9035, & ȝet forr all an oþerr whatt Seȝȝde þe laffdiȝ Marȝe, Þatt Josæp Cristess faderr wass. Ibid. 18553 Þatt all þatt strenedd iss off Godd, Off Godess aȝhenn kinde, All iss itt all þatt illke whatt Þatt Godd iss inn himm sellfenn. c1290St. Edmund 408 in S. Eng. Leg. 442 Ȝwat lutles it was þat he et, was al of grete þingue. 1303R. Brunne Handl. Synne 5963 Ȝyf þou receyuedyst any what Of one þat hys þyng forgat. c1374Chaucer Boeth. iv. pr. vi. 104 (Camb. MS.) She a lytel what smylynge. 1390Gower Conf. I. 98 Florent..syh this vecke wher sche sat, Which was the lothlieste what That evere man caste on his yhe. a1400–50Wars Alex. 3046 So fell fliȝt was of flanys..Of arrows & of all quat. 1562J. Heywood Prov. & Epigr. (1867) 112 Doo, say, or syng, in any what, Thou art a minion marmsat. 1579Spenser Sheph. Cal. July 31 Come downe, and learne the little what, that Thomalin can sayne. 1596― F.Q. vi. ix. 7 They..gaue him for to feed Such homely what, as serues the simple clowne.
II. adv. or conj.
(Often, esp. in early examples, capable of being construed as a pronoun = ‘some’.)
2. a. Introducing (a) each, or (b) only the first, of two or more alternative or co-ordinate words or phrases: (a) what..what, (b) what..and († as, † so) = Some..others; both..and; including..and; as well..as; partly..partly. Now rare exc. with special implication (see b).
(a)a1175Cott. Hom. 237 Of þe folce we siggeð þat hit cumþ fastlice..wat frend, wat fa. 1297R. Glouc. (Rolls) 1152 Hor folc hii lore..Wat in bataile, wat in þe se, and hore hors nei echon. Ibid. 5548 Wat þoru is stalward⁓hede, wat þoru godes grace, Mony was þe gode body, þat he slou. Ibid. 8289 Wat adreint, wat aslawe, tuelf princes þer were ded. a1300Cursor M. 2293 Quat for luue and quat for doute. Ibid. 3907 Quat of his wiues tuin in spus, And wat of hand wimmen in hus, Tuelue suns had he o þaa. c1330Arth. & Merl. 8873 What wiþ wristling, wat wiþ togging, What wiþ smiteing & wiþ skirminge, On boþe half so þai wrouȝten, Her kinges on hors þai brouȝten. c1384Chaucer H. Fame iii. 968 The thinges that I herde there What a lovde, and what in ere. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) xxv. 118 Fyfty comacy of men, what of hors men, what of fote men. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. viii. 189 He schal, what in the firste partie, and what in the ij⊇. partie, fynde herto proof ynouȝ. 1531Tindale Prol. Jonas Wks. (1573) 28/2 All the noble bloud was slayne vp, and halfe the commons thereto, what in Fraunce, and what with their owne sword, in fightyng among them selues for the crowne. a1548Hall Chron., Hen. IV 13 b, These Lordes had much people folowing them what for feare and what for entreatie. 1610Holland Camden's Brit. i. 634 The Severn sea..what beeing driven backe..with a Southwest winde, and what with a verie strong pirrie from the sea troubling it, swelled [etc.]. 1654Earl of Monmouth tr. Bentivoglio's Wars Flanders 122 Most of the Kings ships which, what great, what little, were about forty. 1670Cotton Espernon ii. viii. 350 A hundred and fifty Horse (what Gentlemen, and what of his own Guards). a1693Urquhart's Rabelais iii. i. 19 Seven Children at the least (what Male what Female) were brought forth. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xxvi, I conceive they may be—what of yeomen—what of commons, at least five hundred men.
(b)c1400Mandeville (1919) xxviii. 170 What on horse & on fote, mo þan CC. M{ltilde}. persones. 1442Beckington's Jrnl. (1828) 101 There is in pypes, what in the towne so in the castel, moo than CC legge herneys. c1450Brut ii. 483 What of rayne, thondere and lightnyng and hayll. c1500Melusine 240 Many riche rayments..were made what for the spouse as for the ladyes & damoyselles. Ibid. 266 About xviii. C what balesters as Archers. 1509Hawes Past. Pleas. iii. iii, The very perfect bryghtnes, What of the tower, and of the cleare sunne. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccxxiv. 119 b/1 They rode so long what night and day. 1670Cotton Espernon iii. ix. 441 They had been mann'd out with above four hundred and fifty, what Mariners, and Souldiers.
b. Introducing advb. phrases formed with prepositions (in the earliest periods chiefly for, later usually, now almost always, with), implying (in early use only contextually) ‘in consequence of, on account of, as a result of; in view of, considering (one thing and another)’.
In quot. 1591 without alternative: what for simply = ‘for, because of’.
(a)c1175Lamb. Hom. 145 Alle we beoð in monifald wawe..hwat for ure eldere werkes, hwat for ure aȝene gultes. c1290Beket 391 in S. Eng. Leg. I. 117 Ȝwat for eiȝe, ȝwat for loue, no man him ne with-seide. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 7100 What for sorow, and what thurgh smoke And what thurgh cald, and what thurgh hete..þai salle ay grete. c1450St. Cuthbert (Surtees) 1743 What for hungyr, what for thriste, Þe shipmen of na lykyng lyste. 1476Paston Lett. III. 161, I ame somewhatt crased, what with the see and what wythe thys dyet heer. 1551Robinson tr. More's Utopia ii. (1895) 116 The .ii. corners, what wythe fordys and shelues, and what with rockes, be very ieoperdous. 1570Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 209/2 What for the pillage of the Danes, and what by inward theues and bribers: this land was brought into great affliction. 1603Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 83 What with the war; what with the sweat, what with the gallowes, and what with pouerty, I am Custom-shrunke. a1672Wilkins Nat. Relig. i. iii. (1675) 36 What through their vicious affections..; what through their inadvertency or neglect..they are not to be convinced. 1673Marvell Reh. Transp. ii. 181 The Penalty of the Bonds should have differ'd, what in case he run the Subject only into Errour, and what in case of Sin. 1678J. Williams Hist. Gunp.-Treas. 18 What for avoiding the Report of too much Credulity,..what from the care of doing any thing that might redound to the blemish of the Earl of Northumberland,..it was resolved [etc.]. 1756Monitor No. 35. I. 325 What by..diminution of trade: what by the immense weight of taxes;..some were actually ruined. 1819Scott Ivanhoe xliv, Athelstane's spirit of revenge, what between the natural indolent kindness of his own disposition, what through the prayers of his mother Edith..had terminated [etc.]. 1842De Quincey Mod. Greece Wks. 1890 VII. 331 What through banks, and what through policemen, the concern has dwindled to nothing. 1865Kingsley Herew. ii, The track, what with pack-horses' feet, and what with the wear and tear of five hundred years' rainfall, was a rut three feet deep and two feet broad.
(b)c1386Chaucer Sqr.'s T. 46 The foweles..What for the seson and the yonge grene Ful loude songen hire affeccions. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xviii. 85 What þorw werre and wrake and wycked hyfdes. a1400–50Wars Alex. 781 Quat of stamping of stedis & stering of bernes, All dymed þe dale. c1420Chron. Vilod. 3173 What by-cause of þe hele of þis gode wyff, & also of þe meracle þe whiche þer was do. c1440Alphabet of Tales 13 What for calde & for holdyng in þe watir, I was nere-hand slayn. 1579Twyne Phis. agst. Fort. i. xxx. 41 What by the wonderfulnesse and number of the woorkes, there was nothyng in all the whole world to be wondred at, but Rome. 1591Greene Maiden's Dream 154 She..wrong out sighes so sore: That what for grief her tongue could speak no more. 1665Sir T. Herbert Trav. (1677) 166 What by Themistocles on shore, and Leonidas at Sea, at Salamis and Thermopylæ, his huge Army melted away. 1702De Foe Shortest Way w. Dissenters 29 Alas the Church of England! What with Popery on one Hand, and Schismaticks on the other; Now has she been Crucify'd between two Thieves. 1768Sterne Sent. Journ., Fragment I. 106 What for poisons, conspiracies and assassinations.., there was no going there by day—'twas worse by night. 1822Cobbett Cott. Econ. (1823) §108 What of Excise Laws and Custom Laws and Combination Laws and Libel Laws, a human being..scarcely knows what he dares do or..say. 1867Parkman Jesuits in N. Amer. xxiii. (1875) 346 What with hunting, fishing, canoe-making, and bad weather, the progress of the august travellers was so slow. 1870G. W. Dasent Ann. Eventf. Life xxxvi, Aunt Mandeville,..what between the White Lady and the warm verses, was quite upset.
{astm} For other indefinite (non-relative) uses see C. 4 d, 9 c.
E. Substantival nonce-uses (from A., B., C.).
1. The question ‘What?’, ‘What is it?’, or the like, or the answer to such question; the essence or substance of the thing in question.
1656Cowley Pindar. Odes, Extasie vi, An unexhausted Ocean of delight Swallows my senses quite, And drowns all What, or How, or Where. 1796F. Burney Camilla v. vi, ‘What, ma'am?—how?—what?—’ ‘Nay, nay, don't be frightened. Come down to dinner, and we'll talk over the hows? and the whats? afterwards.’ 1832Motley in Corr. (1889) I. 18, I was summoned before the Senate of the University, and then wrote my name and my whences and whats, etc., etc., in a great book. 1844L. Hunt Blue-Stocking Revels ii. 171 Poems 114 My lady will know all the what and the why. 1861J. Brown Horæ Subsec. Ser. ii. 101 Desiring to divine the essences rather than the appearances of things—in search of the what chiefly in order to question it, make it give up at whatever cost the secret of its why. 1884tr. Lotze's Metaph. 431 It must seem utterly inconceivable that we should ask for the ‘what’ of a thing, and yet look for the answer in anything except that which this thing is and does.
2. A something.
1654Whitlock Zootomia 149 We have seen the Pittifull who's, and in short the slender whats are against modest Learning in Religious Division. 1903A. Maclaren Last Sheaves 54 We are not seeking a What; we are seeking a Whom.
3. An instance of the exclamation ‘What!’
1779Warner in Jesse Selwyn & Contemp. (1844) IV. 254 His partner..gave..a ‘What!’ of such sharp, shrill astonishment, that you could not but have laughed at it. 1785F. Burney Diary 16 Dec., The What! was then repeated.
▸ what you see is what you get: there is no disparity between appearance and reality; (now esp. in Computing) an image, preview, etc., gives a true representation of the result of a process; cf. wysiwyg n.
1936Chicago Daily Tribune 2 May 23/7 (advt.) Sight your subject through the telescopic finder and press the automatic button. That's all there is to it. What you see is what you get. 1955Washington Post 4 Sept. g4/1 (advt.) The complete G.E. kitchen is in the price of the home... No extras—what you see is what you get! 1980Times 1 Apr. 12/5 He's legit—you know, what you see is what you get. 1982Byte Apr. 264/2 ‘What you see is what you get’ (or WYSIWYG) refers to the situation in which the display screen portrays an accurate rendition of the printed page. 1995Arena Dec. 127/2 He's a strong character, but he's basically an open book—what you see is what you get. 2004Packaging Digest (Nexis) 1 Apr. 26 A simple-to-use touchscreen with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get (WYSIWYG) display that can be viewed at different angles.
▪ II. † what, a.2 Obs.
Forms: 1 hwæt, 3 hwat, whæt, wat.
[OE. hwæt = OS. hwat keen, bold, OHG. hwaȥ, waȥ sharp, rough, severe, ON. hvatr bold, vigorous: related to whet v., q.v.]
Quick, active; stout, brave.
Beowulf 1601 Næs ofᵹeafon hwate Scyldingas. a1000Bi Monna Cræftum 81 Sum biþ to horse hwæt. c1200Trin. Coll. Hom. 183 To gode þu ware slau and let; and to euele spac and hwat. c1205Lay. 7137 Þer weoren eorles swiðe whæte [c 1275 wate] and leiden þene king bi ane ȝate.
▪ III. what
Sc. f. whet v. |