whole
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English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
From Middle English hool (“healthy, unhurt, whole”), from Old English hāl (“healthy, safe”), from Proto-Germanic *hailaz (“whole, safe, sound”) (compare West Frisian hiel, Low German heel/heil, Dutch heel, German heil, Danish hel), from Proto-Indo-European *kóh₂ilus (“healthy, whole”) (compare Welsh coel (“omen”), Breton kel (“omen, mention”), Old Prussian kails (“healthy”), Albanian gjallë (“alive, unhurt”), Old Church Slavonic цѣлъ (cělŭ, “healthy, unhurt”), Ancient Greek ὅλος (hólos, “whole”)). Related to hale, health, hail, and heal.
The spelling with wh-, introduced in the 15th century, was for disambiguation with hole.
Pronunciation [edit]
- (RP) IPA: /həʊl/, [həʊɫ], /hɒʊl/, [hɒʊɫ], X-SAMPA: /h@Ul/, [h@U5], /hQUl/, [hQU5]
- (US) IPA: /hoʊl/, [hoʊɫ], X-SAMPA: /hoUl/, [hoU5]
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Audio (US) (file) - Homophones: hole, uwole
- Rhymes: -əʊl
Adjective [edit]
whole (comparative more whole, superlative most whole)
- entire.
- I ate a whole fish.
- sound, uninjured, healthy.
- He is of whole mind, but the same cannot be said about his physical state.
- 1939, Alfred Edward Housman, Additional Poems, X, lines 5-6
- Here, with one balm for many fevers found,
- Whole of an ancient evil, I sleep sound.
- (of food) From which none of its constituents has been removed.
- whole wheat, whole milk
Derived terms [edit]
Translations [edit]
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- 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.
Adverb [edit]
whole (comparative more whole, superlative most whole)
- (colloquial) in entirety; entirely; wholly
- I ate a fish whole!
Translations [edit]
Noun [edit]
whole (plural wholes)
