† whethersopron.conj.
Obsolete.
A. pron.
= whetherever pron.
ΚΠ
c1200 Vices & Virtues 113 He hadde auȝene kere to donne hwaðer swo he wolde.
1357 Lay Folks Catech. (L.) 482 Ylke man answere for his owne dedys and be dampnyd or sauyd wheþer-so [v.r. whethir-sum] þey haue seruyd.
1389 in J. T. Smith & L. T. Smith Eng. Gilds (1870) 74 To come to þe exsequies of hym or of hir þat is deede, whethir-so it be.
a1425 (a1325) Cursor Mundi (Galba) l. 28788 Whether so askes more rightwisly, Sall be herd of god almighty.
B. conj.
= whether conj.1 5 (the addition of so emphasizing the idea of indefiniteness).
ΘΚΠ
the world > relative properties > relationship > contrariety or contrast > contrariety [conjunction] > whether
whethersoc1220
whetherc1275
whethersum1357
whethersoeverc1400
c1220 Bestiary 357 in Old Eng. Misc. 12 Alle ðe oðre foleȝen, weðer so he swimmeð er he wadeð.
c1325 Song Deo Gratias 59 in Early Eng. Poems & Lives Saints (1862) 126 Wheþer so þou beo in bale or blis.
c1405 (c1395) G. Chaucer Franklin's Tale (Hengwrt) (2003) l. 70 Ye shul it lerne wher so ye wole or non.
1426 J. Lydgate tr. G. de Guileville Pilgrimage Life Man 2560 Wherso be he yong or old.
1572 (a1500) Taill of Rauf Coilȝear (1882) 383 Quhidder sa it gang to greif or to gawin.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1923; most recently modified version published online June 2019).
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pron.conj.c1200