Definitions for Whether
ˈʰwɛð ər, ˈwɛð-Whether

Wiktionary(1.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. whetherpronoun

   Which of two.

   Etymology: hwæþer, from hwaþeraz, comparative form of hwaz. Cognate with German weder, Swedish hvar, Icelandic hvorr.

2. whetherconjunction

   ; if, whether or not.

   Do you know whether he's coming?

   Etymology: hwæþer, from hwaþeraz, comparative form of hwaz. Cognate with German weder, Swedish hvar, Icelandic hvorr.

3. whetherconjunction

   Introducing a direct interrogative question which indicates doubt between alternatives.

   whether ys it easyer to saye to the sicke of the palsey, thy synnes ar forgeven the: or to saye, aryse, take uppe thy beed and walke?

   Etymology: Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz ("who") . Cognate with English either, German weder ("neither") , Swedish var, Icelandic hvor ("each of two, which of two") .

4. whetherconjunction

   Used to introduce an indirect interrogative question that consists of multiple alternative possibilities.

   He chose the correct answer, but I don't know whether it was by luck or by skill.

   Etymology: Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz ("who") . Cognate with English either, German weder ("neither") , Swedish var, Icelandic hvor ("each of two, which of two") .

5. whetherconjunction

   Without a correlative, used to introduce a simple indirect question.

   Do you know whether he's coming?

   Etymology: Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz ("who") . Cognate with English either, German weder ("neither") , Swedish var, Icelandic hvor ("each of two, which of two") .

6. whetherconjunction

   Used to introduce a disjunctive adverbial clause which qualifies the main clause of the sentence.

   He's coming, whether you like it or not.

   Etymology: Old English hwæþer, from Proto-Germanic *hwaþeraz, comparative form of *hwaz ("who") . Cognate with English either, German weder ("neither") , Swedish var, Icelandic hvor ("each of two, which of two") .

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Whether

   which (of two); which one (of two); -- used interrogatively and relatively

   Etymology: [OE. whether, AS. hwer; akin to OS. hwear, OFries. hweder, OHG. hwedar, wedar, G. weder, conj., neither, Icel. hvrr whether, Goth. hwaar, Lith. katras, L. uter, Gr. , , Skr. katara, from the interrogatively pronoun, in AS. hw who. . See Who, and cf. Either, Neither, Or, conj.]

2. Whether

   in case; if; -- used to introduce the first or two or more alternative clauses, the other or others being connected by or, or by or whether. When the second of two alternatives is the simple negative of the first it is sometimes only indicated by the particle not or no after the correlative, and sometimes it is omitted entirely as being distinctly implied in the whether of the first

   Etymology: [OE. whether, AS. hwer; akin to OS. hwear, OFries. hweder, OHG. hwedar, wedar, G. weder, conj., neither, Icel. hvrr whether, Goth. hwaar, Lith. katras, L. uter, Gr. , , Skr. katara, from the interrogatively pronoun, in AS. hw who. . See Who, and cf. Either, Neither, Or, conj.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Whether

   hweth′ėr, interrog. and rel. pron. signifying which of two.—conj. which of two alternatives.—interrog. adv. introducing the first of two questions, the second being introduced by or—also conj.—Whether or no (coll.), in any case, surely. [A.S. hwæther, from hwá, who, with the old comp. suffix -ther; cog. with Goth. hwathar, Ger. weder; also with L. uter, Gr. koteros, Sans. katara. Cf. Other and Alter.]

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Whether' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #277

2. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'Whether' in Written Corpus Frequency: #265

How to pronounce Whether?

1. Alex

   US English

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

How to say Whether in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of Whether in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of Whether in Pythagorean Numerology is: 6

Examples of Whether in a Sentence

1. Brian Strutton:

   Pilots are highly trained and ready to handle emergencies of all kinds, but when one happens, the only thing that matters is whether the job gets done, in this case, the pilots and crew appear to have done an excellent and highly professional job of getting this aircraft safely onto the ground in very difficult circumstances, and safely evacuating all the passengers with no reported serious injuries.

2. Legal Counsel:

   As we say in the report and as I said at the opening, we did not reach a determination as to whether the President committed a crime.

3. Jeremiah Wheeler:

   We need to vote, i don't want to offer any more reasons on why not to vote, whether I feel we're getting the gourmet meal that we rightfully deserve or we're getting some fast food. Participation is key.

4. Illinois Democratic Rep. Mike Quigley:

   Last April, I asked the GSA administrator under oath whether the President or anyone at the White House was involved in the discussions on this decision about the FBI building, general Services Administrator Emily Murphy said no. The inspector general said that General Services Administrator Emily Murphy misled us. I suppose that's a DC euphemism for a lie. So I'd like General Services Administrator Emily Murphy to come back before my subcommittee and answer that question accurately.

5. Steven Paget:

   Conventional wisdom seems to have it that the pipeline is going to get denied, but who knows whether that's right or wrong, at this point it is completely mired in legal and regulatory issues, and their attempts to pause the review to work out those issues have been denied.

Images & Illustrations of Whether

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