who

Meaning

Pron

1. (interrogative, nominative, plural, singular) What person or people; which person or people; asks for the identity of someone; used in a direct or indirect question.
2. (nominative, plural, relative, singular) Introduces a relative clause having a human antecedent.
3. (nominative, plural, relative, singular) Introduces a relative clause having a human antecedent.
4. (nominative, plural, singular) Whoever, he who, they who.
5. (informal, nominative, plural, singular) Also used with names of collective nouns that are groups of people, especially singularly-named musical groups or sports teams.

Noun

A person under discussion; a question of which person.

Det

whose

Synonyms

which

that

what

whom

someone

which person

somebody

where

person

🧑‍🦱

any

which one

people

🧑‍🤝‍🧑

which people

pron./pron.m.,f.

with whom

it is said

those who

which one’s

what kind of person

son of Manu Vaivasvata

anybody

anyone

he

👨

here

he who

self

she

👩

something

the

them

they

those

whose

Translations

qui

wer

wie

chi

quién

quien

quem

che

ποιος

der

quis

qui

die

welke

Pronounced as (IPA)

/huː/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: who

Inherited from Old English: hwā

Cognate with Scots: wha

Cognate with Western Frisian: wa

Cognate with Dutch: wie

Cognate with Low German: we

Cognate with German: wer

Cognate with Danish: hvem

Cognate with Norwegian Bokmål: hvem

Cognate with Norwegian Nynorsk: kven

Cognate with Icelandic: hver

In summary

From Middle English who, hwo, huo, wha, hwoa, hwa, from Old English hwā (dative hwām, genitive hwæs), from Proto-West Germanic *hwaʀ, from Proto-Germanic *hwaz, from Proto-Indo-European *kʷos, *kʷís.
The sound change /hw/ > /h/ (without a corresponding change in spelling) was due to wh-cluster reduction after an irregular change of /ɑː/ to /oː/ in Middle English (instead of the expected /ɔː/) and further to /uː/ regularly in Early Modern English. A similar change occurred in two. Compare how, which underwent wh-reduction earlier (in Old English), and thus is spelt with h.
Compare Scots wha, West Frisian wa, Dutch wie, Low German we, German wer, Swedish vem, Danish hvem, Norwegian Bokmål hvem, Norwegian Nynorsk kven, Icelandic hver.

Sentences

Despite this she would bring back home people who needed help .

I have to find a man who knows that universal language .

The town was named by a soldier who served under Napoleon Bonaparte .

There are also many soloists who have performed her works .

They are room staff who perform the work of admission and control , and seller-speaker.

The gardens were created by Max Cotton , who lived in Lisgar Road .