GNU Collaborative International Dictionary of English
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Who , pron. [Possess. whose ; object. Whom .] [OE. who, wha, AS. hwā, interrogative pron., neut. hwæt; akin to OFries. hwa, neut. hwet, OS. hwē, neut. hwat, D. wie, neut. wat, G. wer, neut. was, OHG. wer, hwer, neut. waz, hwaz, Icel. hvat, neut., Dan. hvo, neut. hvad, Sw. ho, hvem, neut. hvad, Goth. hwas, fem. hwō, neut. hwa, Lith. kas, Ir. & Gael. co, W. pwy, L. quod, neuter of qui, Gr. πότερος whether, Skr. kas. √182. Cf. How, Quantity, Quorum, Quote, Ubiquity, What, When, Where, Whether, Which, Whither, Whom, Why.]1913 Webster
- Originally, an interrogative pronoun, later, a relative pronoun also; -- used always substantively, and either as singular or plural. See the Note under What, pron., 1. As interrogative pronouns, who and whom ask the question: What or which person or persons? Who and whom, as relative pronouns (in the sense of that), are properly used of persons (corresponding to which, as applied to things), but are sometimes, less properly and now rarely, used of animals, plants, etc. Who and whom, as compound relatives, are also used especially of persons, meaning the person that; the persons that; the one that; whosoever. “Let who will be President.” Macaulay.1913 Webster
[He] should not tell whose children they were.
Chaucer.1913 WebsterThere thou tell'st of kings, and who aspire;
Who fall, who rise, who triumph, who do moan.Daniel.1913 WebsterAdders who with cloven tongues
Do hiss into madness.Shak.1913 WebsterWhom I could pity thus forlorn.
Milton.1913 WebsterHow hard is our fate, who serve in the state.
Addison.1913 WebsterWho cheapens life, abates the fear of death.
Young.1913 WebsterThe brace of large greyhounds, who were the companions of his sports.
Sir W. Scott.1913 Webster - One; any; one. [Obs., except in the archaic phrase, as who should say.]1913 Webster
As who should say, it were a very dangerous matter if a man in any point should be found wiser than his forefathers were.
Robynson (More's Utopia).1913 Webster
- Originally, an interrogative pronoun, later, a relative pronoun also; -- used always substantively, and either as singular or plural. See the Note under What, pron., 1. As interrogative pronouns, who and whom ask the question: What or which person or persons? Who and whom, as relative pronouns (in the sense of that), are properly used of persons (corresponding to which, as applied to things), but are sometimes, less properly and now rarely, used of animals, plants, etc. Who and whom, as compound relatives, are also used especially of persons, meaning the person that; the persons that; the one that; whosoever. “Let who will be President.”