Definitions for which
ʰwɪtʃ, wɪtʃwhich

Wiktionary(2.60 / 12 votes)Rate this definition:

1. which(Noun)

   An occurrence of the word which.

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

2. which(Pronoun)

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

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

Webster Dictionary(2.75 / 4 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Which(adj)

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

   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.]

2. Which(adj)

   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

   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.]

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

   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.]

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

   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(3.50 / 2 votes)Rate this definition:

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(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

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?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

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. The Swedes:

   We looked at Germany and knew there would be a bit more space behind their backline to exploit with Blackstenius and Jakobsson. It worked well, sprinting past the defensive line, we've talked about the possibilities here to go far and win every game. A good sign is that we're now qualified for the Olympics, which was hanging over our heads for a while. Now we don't have to worry about it. There's not a single cell in us that's content with this. We're going to go for it.

2. Tony Spontana:

   All the officials, prosecutors, firing squads and ambulances are in place, so hopefully the time (of the executions) is getting closer, so at the moment, we're entering the quiet period before the executions, which will be carried out this week.

3. Annie Besant:

   Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle.

4. Yujiro Goto:

   The U.S. jobs data was a disappointment and postpones expectations of a lift-off by the end of this year which is not dollar positive.

5. Fraser McKevitt:

   Last year people shopped more frequently and closer to home as they topped up the cupboards while enjoying the sunshine and the men's football World Cup. This year households are making one fewer trip, which may not sound like much but is enough to tip the market into decline.

Images & Illustrations of which

Popularity rank by frequency of use