Definitions for whether
ˈʰwɛð ər, ˈwɛð-whether

WiktionaryRate this definition:1.0 / 1 vote

1. whetherpronoun

   Which of two.

2. whetherconjunction

   ; if, whether or not.

   Do you know whether he's coming?

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?

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.

5. whetherconjunction

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

   Do you know whether he's coming?

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.

7. 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").

Samuel Johnson's DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Whetheradverb

   A particle expressing one part of a disjunctive question in opposition to the other.

   Etymology: hwœðer , Saxon.

   As they, so we have likewise a publick form, how to serve God both morning and evening, whether sermons may be had or no. Richard Hooker.

   Resolve whether you will or no. William Shakespeare, Rich. III.

   Perkins’s three counsellors registered themselves sanctuarymen; and whether upon pardon obtained, or continuance within the privilege, they were not proceeded with. Francis Bacon.

   If we adjoin to the lords, whether they prevail or not, we engulph ourselves into assured danger. John Hayward.

   Then did’st thou found that order, whether love
   Or victory thy royal thoughts did move,
   Each was a noble cause. John Denham.

   Epictetus forbids a man, on such an occasion, to consult with the oracle whether he should do it or no, it being necessary to be done. Decay of Piety.

   Whether by health or sickness, life or death, mercy is still contriving and carrying on the spiritual good of all who love God. Robert South, Sermons.

   This assistance is only offered to men, and not forced upon them, whether they will or no. John Tillotson.

   When our foreign trade exceeds our exportation of commodities, our money must go to pay our debts, whether melted or not. John Locke.

   Whether it be that the richest of these discoveries fall not into the pope’s hands, or for some other reason, the prince of Farnese will keep this seat from being turned up, ’till one of his own family is in the chair. Joseph Addison, on Italy.

2. Whetherpronoun.

   Which of two.

   Whither when they came, they fell at words
   Whether of them should be the lord of lords. Hubberd’s Tale.

   Whether of them twain did the will of his father? Mat. xxi.

   Whether is more beneficial, that we should have the same yearly quantity of heat distributed equally, or a greater share in Summer, and in Winter a less? Richard Bentley.

   Let them take whether they will: if they deduce all animals from single pairs, even to make the second of a pair, is to write after a copy. Richard Bentley.

WikipediaRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. whether

   An interrogative word or question word is a function word used to ask a question, such as what, which, when, where, who, whom, whose, why, whether and how. They are sometimes called wh-words, because in English most of them start with wh- (compare Five Ws). They may be used in both direct questions (Where is he going?) and in indirect questions (I wonder where he is going). In English and various other languages the same forms are also used as relative pronouns in certain relative clauses (The country where he was born) and certain adverb clauses (I go where he goes). It can also be used as a modal, since question words are more likely to appear in modal sentences, like (Why was he walking?) A particular type of interrogative word is the interrogative particle, which serves to convert a statement into a yes–no question, without having any other meaning. Examples include est-ce que in French, ли li in Russian, czy in Polish, чи chy in Ukrainian, ĉu in Esperanto, āyā آیا in Persian, কি ki in Bengali, 嗎/吗 ma in Mandarin Chinese, mı/mi in Turkish, pa in Ladin, か ka in Japanese, 까 kka in Korean, ko/kö in Finnish and (да) ли (da) li in Serbo-Croatian. "Is it true that..." would be a similar construct in English. Such particles contrast with other interrogative words, which form what are called wh-questions rather than yes–no questions. For more information about the grammatical rules for forming questions in various languages, see Interrogative.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. whether

   Whether is a conjunction used to introduce two or more alternatives, indicating a choice or possibility between them. It is commonly used to express uncertainty or a condition that could go either way, and it typically introduces a yes-or-no question or a doubt about something.

Webster DictionaryRate this definition:4.0 / 2 votes

1. Whether

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

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

3. 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 DictionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

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. Mark Warschauer:

   The internet and home access to technology was always seen as somewhat peripheral to education and now I think people realize that it has become central during the pandemic and probably will continue to be, we have a history in this country -- whether it is with gun violence or a health crises -- when something really bad happens, people do pay a lot more attention. But whether they make the necessary changes, or not, is unclear.

2. Elaine Nsoesie:

   If people are having these chronic conditions and it's not being diagnosed, we're not completely sure whether individuals will have other factors that could actually lead to more severe disease.

3. Lawrence Messina:

   We've had some severe winter weather conditions here with significant snowfall. We don't yet know whether that's a factor in this.

4. Eliot Weisman:

   He didn’t like confrontation, period, especially in his family. And everybody in his family was aware of it… From time to time, whether it was Barbara alone or the kids or a combination, some things would get out of whack. Frank Sinatra greeting a fan. (Courtesy of Eliot Weisman) I think he became more upset, depressed about those things... It bothered him when there was confrontation about who’s getting what in the future after his death… He wanted his wife taken care of and his kids taken care of fairly.

5. Adam Pertman:

   The best practice is to keep the kid as close to home as possible, in the middle of a war like this, you can't know whether one of the parents is alive -- whether there's a grandparent, an aunt, a cousin. You do a due diligence search for the people who already know the child.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

References

1. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Whether
2. ^ Samuel Johnson's Dictionary
   https://johnsonsdictionaryonline.com/views/search.php?term=whether
3. ^ Wikipedia
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whether
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Webster Dictionary
   https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whether
6. ^ Chambers 20th Century Dictionary
   https://www.gutenberg.org/files/37683/37683-h/37683-h.htm#:~:text=whether