/wɪt͡ʃ/, /ʍɪt͡ʃ/
OriginFrom Middle English which, hwic, wilche, hwilch, whilk, hwilc, from Old English hwelċ (“which”), from Proto-Germanic *hwilīkaz (“what kind”, literally “like what”), derived from *hwaz. By surface analysis, who + like.
Cognates include Scots whilk (“which”), West Frisian hokker (“which”), Dutch welk (“which”), Low German welk (“which”), German welcher (“which”), Danish hvilken (“which”), Swedish vilken (“which”), Norwegian hvilken (“which”), Icelandic hvílíkur (“which”).
- nonstandardAnd.
“They only offered me five dollars, which I wouldn’t do it for less than fifteen.”
- interrogativeWhat, of those mentioned or implied.
“Which song shall we play?”
“They couldn't decide which song to play.”
“Which one is bigger?”
- The/Any ... that; whichever.
“Take which one you want.”
“You may go which way you please.”
- relativeDesignates the one(s) previously mentioned.
“After glaring upon the smoking philosopher, who took his misfortunes with such positive nonchalance, he growled out an oath in German, which language is particularly adapted for growling in; then, rai”
“Whitaker’s blog post, housed on a website called Minutes Before Six, goes on to make references to Albert Camus’ 1947 classic, The Plague, dips into a Camus-inspired existential ramble and returns to ”
“All the phones come in plastic bodies that have been given a brushed-metal finish and carry 64-bit processors from Intel, which fact they proudly announce with an Intel Inside logo on the back.”
- interrogativeWhat one or ones (of those mentioned or implied).
“Which is which?”
“By now, you must surely know which is which.”
“Which is bigger, the red one or the blue one?”
- The/Any ones that; whichever.
“Please take which you please.”
- relativeReferring to a preceding noun.
“I dropped a saucepan, which knocked over the eggs, which went all over the kitchen floor.”
“I found my camera, which I thought I'd lost, under the bed.”
“I entered the room, at the far end of which was a small table.”
- archaic, relativeUsed of people (now generally who, whom, that; which remains possible with words also referred to by it such as baby, child).
“She had a young child, which cried incessantly.”
- relativeReferring to a preceding statement.
“The front door was open, which concerned me.”
“He had to leave, which was very difficult.”
“She saved my life, for which I am eternally grateful.”
- proscribed, relative, sometimesIn a restrictive relative clause, referring to a noun previously mentioned.
“This is the letter which I received.”
“This is the letter in which he explains his decision.”
“Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a declaration of those things which are most surely believed among us...”
- archaic, proscribed, relative, sometimesUsed of people.
“The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.”
Formswhiche(alternative, obsolete) · wich(alternative, Jamaica)