Definitions for which
ʰwɪtʃ, wɪtʃwhich

Wiktionary(2.60 / 12 votes)Rate this definition:

1. whichnoun

   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. whichpronoun

   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(2.40 / 5 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Whichadjective

   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. 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

   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. Christian Baumgartner:

   The old system was abused by some federations but there is a new perspective with these new conditions, which provide a real chance for a level playing field.

2. John Milkovich:

   We choose to confront the culture of death -- the abortion industry has taken its war against our children to our very doorstep, and we have determined to take the fight to the abortion cartel through the law and prayer to stop the horrific infanticide which is being inflicted upon our children, we will continue to fight for the next generations of Louisianans.

3. Charles Nditije:

   I am urging Burundi citizens not to go to polls this July 21 which are not democratic.

4. Joice Mujuru:

   We are not fighting one man but a system, that system which is unjust.

5. Alexander Graham Bell:

   What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists...and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know EXACTLY what you want...and are fully determined not to quit until you get it.

Images & Illustrations of which

Popularity rank by frequency of use