which
English · Thesaurus
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which
- /wɪt͡ʃ/
- /ʍɪt͡ʃ/
Sounds like witch, wich, wych (wine–whine merger) · Rhymes with -ɪtʃ
Where it comes from
From 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.
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”).
determiner whiche · wich
- What, of those mentioned or implied. Which song shall we play?
- The/Any ... that; whichever. Take which one you want.
- Designates 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, raising his hand, he dealt him a blow on his pipe, which sent it, like a rocket, into the midst of the
pronoun whiche · wich
- What one or ones (of those mentioned or implied). Which is which?
- The/Any ones that; whichever. Please take which you please.
- Referring to a preceding noun. I dropped a saucepan, which knocked over the eggs, which went all over the kitchen floor.
- Used 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.
- Referring to a preceding statement. The front door was open, which concerned me.
- In a restrictive relative clause, referring to a noun previously mentioned. This is the letter which I received.
- Used of people. The men which acompanyed him on his waye stode amased, for they herde a voyce, butt sawe no man.
conjunction whiche · wich
- Introduces an anacoluthon. We didn’t find any strips of skin. Which, by the way, ughhh!
- And. They only offered me five dollars, which I wouldn’t do it for less than fifteen.
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: that, whatsoever, whatever, whichsoever, whichever, what, who, those, these, this, such, whosoever, whomever, whoever, whom, any
Translations
Every language
det (interrogative) what, of those mentioned or implied
| Español | cuál, cuáles |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 어느 eoneu |
| 日本語 | どの dono |
| 中文 | 哪 nǎ, něi |
| हिन्दी | कौनसा kaunsā |
| Kiswahili | -pi |
| Português | qual |
| Français | quel, quelle, quels, quelles |
| Deutsch | welcher, welche, welches |
| Italiano | quale |
| Ελληνικά | ποιος poios, ποια poia, ποιο poio, ποιοι poioi, ποιες poies |
| Română | care |
| Русский | кото́рый kotóryj, како́й kakój, кой koj |
| Tiếng Việt | nào |
| العربية | أَيّ ʔayy |
| עברית | אֵיזֶה éize, איזו éizo, אלו éilu |
det (relative) designating the one(s) mentioned
| Español | cual, cuál, cuales, cuáles |
|---|---|
| Português | qual, o qual, os quais, a qual, as quais |
| Français | lequel, laquelle, lesquels, lesquelles |
| Deutsch | welcher, welche, welches |
| Italiano | il quale, la quale, i quali, le quali, che |
| Ελληνικά | ποιος poios, ποια poia, ποιο poio, ποιοι poioi, ποιες poies |
| Română | care |
| Русский | кото́рый kotóryj |
| العربية | مَما mama |
| עברית | אשר ashér, ש־ she- |
Talk about this word "which." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/which. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. which. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/which "which." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/which.Cite this
@misc{which_2026,
title = {which},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/which},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
