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. Alejandro Mayorkas:

    Senator... if I may strike at the fundamental point that I believe you are inquiring of, which is, will I follow the law and the execution of my responsibilities should I have the privilege of serving as the secretary of Homeland Security ? And the answer is yes, I will follow the law.

  2. Andre Barlow:

    Google cozying up to the government doesn't hurt, obviously there are a lot of factors that are weighed in the antitrust investigation, which could go either way.

  3. Gerard Hastings:

    It strips away the branding which draws people to the pack, removes any false reassurance that features like pastel colors and soothing descriptors are designed to provide, and makes the health warning more prominent.

  4. Chuck Todd:

    Dr. Fauci now finds himself at the center of the GOP’s pandemic messaging, which is a place where a public health official like him does not like to be.

  5. Erik Meyersson:

    The likely target here is instead the HDP. By striking hard at the PKK, the Turkish government is pressuring the HDP to pick a side, either it denounces PKK to end violence, risking political blowback among its Kurdish base, or it adopts a more pro-Kurdish rhetoric, risking the ire of the Turkish public as well as the judiciary, which has a long history of banning Kurdish parties and politicians.

Popularity rank by frequency of use

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Translations for which

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"which." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/which>.

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