What does which mean?

Definitions for which
ʰwɪtʃ, wɪtʃwhich

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word which.


Did you actually mean whish or whack?

Wiktionary

  1. whichnoun

    An occurrence of the word which.

  2. whichpronoun

    Who; whom; what (of those mentioned or implied)

  3. Etymology: hwilc, from Proto-Germanic, the former being the stem of. Cognates include German welcher, Dutch welk and Old Norse hvílíkr.

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. WHICHpron.

    Etymology: hwilc , Saxon; welk, Dutch.

    The apostles term it the pledge of our heavenly inheritance, sometimes the handsel or earnest of that which is to come. Richard Hooker, b. v.

    Do they not blaspheme that worthy name, by the which ye are called? Ja. ii. 7.

    In destructions by deluge, the remnant which hap to be reserved are ignorant. Francis Bacon.

    To which their want of judging abilities, add also their want of opportunity to apply to such a serious consideration as may let them into the true goodness and evil of things, which are qualities which seldom display themselves to the first view. Robert South, Sermons.

    The queen of furies by their side is set,
    And snatches from their mouths th’ untasted meat,
    Which, if they touch, her hissing snakes she rears. Dryden.

    After the several earths, consider the parts of the surface of this globe which is barren, as sand and rocks. John Locke.

    The Almighty, which giveth wisdom to whomsoever it pleaseth him, did, for the good of his church, stay those eager affections. Richard Hooker.

    Do you hear, sir, of a battle?
    ———— Every one hears that,
    Which can distinguish sound. William Shakespeare, King Lear.

    Had I been there, which am a silly woman,
    The soldiers should have toss’d me on their pikes,
    Before I would have granted to that act. William Shakespeare, H. VI.

    Of man’s first disobedience, and the fruit
    Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste. John Milton.

    What is the night?
    —— Almost at odds with morning, which is which. William Shakespeare.

    Two fair twins,
    The puzzled strangers which is which enquire. Thomas Tickell.

ChatGPT

  1. which

    "Which" is a pronoun used to refer to a specific person, thing, or idea out of a group of options. It is typically used to ask a question to seek clarification or to indicate a choice between multiple alternatives.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Whichadjective

    of what sort or kind; what; what a; who

  2. Whichadjective

    a interrogative pronoun, used both substantively and adjectively, and in direct and indirect questions, to ask for, or refer to, an individual person or thing among several of a class; as, which man is it? which woman was it? which is the house? he asked which route he should take; which is best, to live or to die? See the Note under What, pron., 1

  3. Which

    a relative pronoun, used esp. in referring to an antecedent noun or clause, but sometimes with reference to what is specified or implied in a sentence, or to a following noun or clause (generally involving a reference, however, to something which has preceded). It is used in all numbers and genders, and was formerly used of persons

  4. Which

    a compound relative or indefinite pronoun, standing for any one which, whichever, that which, those which, the . . . which, and the like; as, take which you will

  5. Etymology: [OE. which, whilk, AS. hwilc, hwylc, hwelc, from the root of hw who + lc body; hence properly, of what sort or kind; akin to OS. hwilik which, OFries. hwelik, D. welk, G. welch, OHG. welh, hwelh, Icel. hvlkr, Dan. & Sw. hvilken, Goth. hwileiks, hwleiks; cf. L. qualis. . See Who, and Like, a., and cf. Such.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Which

    hwich, interrog. pron. what one of a number?—also used adjectively.—rel. pron. (obs.) who, whom: now used of things only.—prons. Whichev′er, Whichsoev′er, every one which: whether one or other.—(obs.) Which...he, who; Which...his, whose—surviving in the vulgar use of which as a mere introductory word; Which is which? which is the one, which is the other? a common phrase denoting inability to decide between two or more things.—The which (obs.), which. [A.S. hwilc, hwelc, from hwí, instrumental case of hwá, who, and líc, like; Goth. hwei-leiks, Ger. welch, welcher; L. qualis. Cf. Such and Each.]

Editors Contribution

  1. which

    A relative pronoun.

    The company which released the new software were happy to open-source the code for it to be improved.


    Submitted by MaryC on April 8, 2020  

British National Corpus

  1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'which' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #30

  2. Written Corpus Frequency

    Rank popularity for the word 'which' in Written Corpus Frequency: #80

How to pronounce which?

How to say which in sign language?

Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of which in Chaldean Numerology is: 2

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of which in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of which in a Sentence

  1. Katharina Rebay-Salisbury:

    Bringing up babies in prehistory was not an easy task, we are interested in researching cultural practices of mothering, which had profound implications for the survival of babies. It is fascinating to be able to see, for the first time, which foods these vessels contained.

  2. Jonathon Jones:

    Our firm’s success has never been due to one person or to one moment, the increase in Tiber Creek Group’s revenue is due to the collective effort of all our lobbyists and the reputation of our firm, which has been in business for more than 30 years.

  3. Doug Flynn:

    There's a pretty good opportunity in short-term bonds, which are severely dislocated.

  4. Mitch McConnell:

    Yeah, let me tell you the difference, secretary Kerry, I guess in order to reassure the left-leaning members of his own party, said it would sort be like a pinprick. You know, it really would not be of any great consequence. I don't know whether he had in mind knocking out a couple of camels or what. But this was a strike that was well-planned, well-executed, went right to the heart of the matter, which is using chemical weapons. So had I seen that kind of approach by President Obama, I'm sure I would've signed up.

  5. Christopher Lloyd:

    We're handling some bigger life events in this season, we do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it's not easy to do because that's a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

which#1#57#10000

Translations for which

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

Get even more translations for which »

Translation

Find a translation for the which definition in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Word of the Day

Would you like us to send you a FREE new word definition delivered to your inbox daily?

Please enter your email address:


Citation

Use the citation below to add this definition to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"which." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/which>.

Discuss these which definitions with the community:

0 Comments

    Are we missing a good definition for which? Don't keep it to yourself...

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Chrome

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Free, no signup required:

    Add to Firefox

    Get instant definitions for any word that hits you anywhere on the web!

    Browse Definitions.net

    Quiz

    Are you a words master?

    »
    (law) a broad legal concept including anything that disturbs the reasonable use of your property or endangers life and health or is offensive
    A investigating
    B abdomen
    C contribution
    D nuisance

    Nearby & related entries:

    Alternative searches for which: