what

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[edit] English

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Wikipedia

[edit] Etymology

Middle English, from Old English hwæt, from Proto-Germanic *hwat, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, *kʷod (which also gave us who).

Cognate to many similar terms, such as French quoi (“what”); Germanic forms differ from Romance forms due to Grimm’s law of Germanic sound change.

[edit] Pronunciation

[edit] Pronoun

what

  1. (interrogative) which thing, event, circumstance, etc.: used interrogatively in asking for the specification of an identity, quantity, quality, etc.
    What is your address?
    You told them what?
  2. (UK, colloquial) An interrogative which asks "Don't you agree?"
    It's rather late, what?
  3. (relative, nonstandard) that; which
  4. (relative) that which; those that; the thing that
    He knows what he wants.
    What is tossed upward falls back down.

[edit] Translations

interrogative pronoun
relative pronoun
nonstandard relative pronoun

[edit] Adverb

what (not comparable)

  1. in some manner or degree; in part; partly; usually followed by with.
    What with singing and joking, the time passed quickly.
  2. Such; this is; that is.
    What a pity.
    What a beautiful day!
  3. (obsolete) Why?
    What should I tell the answer of the knight? — Chaucer.
    But what do I stand reckoning upon advantages and gains lost by the misrule and turbulency of the prelates? — Milton.
  4. (now rare) Used to introduce each of two coordinate phrases or concepts; both...and.
    • 1485, Sir Thomas Malory, Le Morte Darthur, Book III:
      and so they rode fresshly with grete royalte, what by water and what by land, tyl that they came nyghe vnto london.

[edit] Synonyms

[edit] Translations

in some manner
such
why
See translations at why.
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Translations

that which; those that; the thing that

[edit] Interjection

what

  1. an expression of surprise or disbelief.
    What! That’s amazing.
  2. (UK, colloquial, dated) is that not true?
    It’s a nice day, what? (sometimes repeated, e.g.: What-what?)

[edit] Translations

Translations

[edit] Determiner

what

  1. which; which kind of.
    What shirt are you going to wear?
    What time is it?
    What kind of car is that?
  2. how much; how great (used in an exclamation)
    What talent he has!
    What a talent!

[edit] Translations

which
how much
The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
Translations to be checked

[edit] Derived terms

Terms derived from the pronoun, adverb, interjection, or determiner what

[edit] Statistics

[edit] Anagrams

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