whos

See also: who's

English

Pronunciation

• enPR: ho͞oz, IPA^(key): /huːz/
• Rhymes: -uːz
• Homophones: whose, who's

Noun

whos

1. plural of who; often used along with whats, whys, hows, etc.

   Closing of Duffy trial takes proceedings from the whos and whats to why and how.

   The whos and wheres and whens and whats of his expenses were the meat of the weeks of testimony that dragged on far longer than anyone expected

Anagrams

• Hows, Show, how's, hows, show

Middle English

Alternative forms

• hoes, hos, hose, hosse, hoys, huas, qwoys, was, whas, whoes, whois, whoos, whose, wos, wose
• (northern) quas, whase, whayse
• (early) hwas, hwæs, hwes, hwos

Etymology

From Old English hwæs, hwes (genitive of hwā), from Proto-West Germanic *hwes (genitive of *hwaʀ), from Proto-Germanic *hwes (dative of *hwaz), from Proto-Indo-European *kʷésyo (genitive of *kʷís).

The usual vocalism is due to influence from who and whom; forms with the expected vocalism are found sporadically in Early Middle English.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hwɔːs/, /hwoːs/
• (Early Middle English) IPA^(key): /hwɑːs/
• (Northern) IPA^(key): /hwaːs/

Pronoun

whos (singular or plural, genitive case, nominative who)

1. (relative) whose (genitive)
2. (interrogative, rare) whose (genitive)

Descendants

• English: whose
• Scots: whase

Determiner

whos

1. (relative) whose, of who
2. (interrogative, rare) whose, of who
3. (relative, rare) of which (inanimate)

Descendants

• English: whose
• Scots: whase
• Yola: fose

References

• “whōs, pron.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.